


Raven Bound

by LolMouse



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: DCAU Extended Universe, F/F, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Mild Language, implied/referenced past rape/non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-08-28 13:15:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 98,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16724112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LolMouse/pseuds/LolMouse
Summary: Jinx wanted to summon a demon with one of the old headmaster's books. What she got instead threatens to destroy her life as she knows it.





	1. The Summoning

"Are you sure this will work, boss?"

"Am I ever sure, big guy?" Jinx grinned at Mammoth's concern, and he smiled a little back. This was a familiar back-and-forth between them.

"Usually you're not tryin' some kinda black magic, though, boss."

"Nothing we do is usual. Relax. Let me finish this thing."

On the floor of the unused HIVE base storage room, currently home to nothing but insects and dust, a large series of geometric shapes and mystic script was taking form all along the perimeter of a giant circle. Jinx scratched her chalk and infused the lines with a tiny influx of her power to engrave them deeper into the metal floor; she didn't want any old jerk accidentally scuffing a line somewhere and spoiling it.

"How do you draw'em all straight and curved like that just by hand, boss?" asked Mammoth.

"There's a trick to it. The circle and shapes have to be absolutely perfect, see, but it's normally impossible to ever draw a perfect circle."

"Really?"

"Yeah, pretty sure some ancient greeks did the math on that thousands of years ago. So you have to start with a simple little ritual that connects a tiny piece of your mind to a Platonic plane of perfect order which makes you able to draw a perfect shape from it. Took me ages to find that spell, too. Without that, all I'd be drawing was some weird graffiti."

"Huh." Mammoth shrugged, and Jinx smiled. He wasn't stupid, not nearly as much as even the old HIVE academy teachers had thought, but he wasn't complicated either. He could easily accept and remember new information so long as he trusted the source. And he and Jinx had trusted each other since before the Academy. She could have told him a million lies and he'd believe them all, but that was exactly why she never told him any lies at all.

Jinx stuck out her tongue, concentrating on the mental spell as she finished the final touches, feeling her hair bob and weave strangely in tune with the unfamiliar magic like waves crashing on a shore. Several six-pointed stars lined the inside of the thing, pointing in the cardinal directions and filled with odd symbols.

"I thought one of them devil stars had five points," said Mammoth.

"This isn't one of those. Not actually sure exactly what this is, but I found it in one of the old headmaster's books and I know he was legit and the other stuff from it has worked." She pointed to the side of the circle to a partially burned tome; some of Blood's servants had tried to destroy it after the old headmaster's defeat. Jinx had followed a sudden impulse (as usual) and rescued what was left of it. Something about it had felt right at the time.

"Wha? Jinx, is this from Blood? Brother Blood?" He frowned, showing his disapproval for the first time.

She got up and put a hand on his arm. "Relax, Baran. I know. I haven't forgotten that whole thing. Me least of all of us." The whole experience of being under Blood's control had left its scars on all of the old HIVE students, and most preferred to forget. "I'm hoping this is going to be a good step to getting back at that bastard, though."

Mammoth didn't smile, but he did nod - a little grimly. "Fair. Let's hope this works then."

"Sure it will. Go get the bowls and things and let's get this thing started." She ran her fingers lightly through her hair and released tiny pink sparks, raising and gathering it in her familiar horns to calm it down, and bound them again. Then she cracked her knuckles and laid out her materials as Mammoth placed them nearby.

It was pretty simple, really. A Hexagram, an amulet, linen, a bit of lion skin for protection (she'd gotten the leather from some poachers who'd tried to double cross them some months before), brass vessels, oils and a big medieval-ish sword she'd found in one of the old storerooms placed there for who knew what reason, plus some other trinkets. It wasn't the usual garb she'd seen, but then again, this summoning ritual was made for only one person - perfect in her case, since she was the only witch around. And any others who had tried something with her had long since abandoned those ideas. Bad luck and magic didn't mix very well, and people around her didn't tend to be very lucky.

She'd checked astrological conditions (by which she'd mean she'd asked online - the best tool a magician had in the modern age by far), the weather, and even some hidden energetic conditions which amateurs would have been blind to. It was now or never.

Jinx placed simple offerings at each of the cardinal directions, meant to entice the being she was after. She'd modified the ritual slightly to attract the name of something else she'd found in Brother Blood's books. It was risky, but she lived for risk - or rather, hadn't died by it yet. A bit of blood, of course, because for some reason some oxygenated blood cells got otherworldly beings weirdly excited. Buncha perverts, in her opinion. A gold ring, cut clean in half, to represent deceit and betrayal. A piece of a mirror shattered by a black cat on the full moon, to represent herself; she'd kept the shards around after she'd seen that bit of ridiculous bad luck happen right in front of her years ago. The energies emanating from them sometimes made her feel dizzy. Finally, she poured some chamomile tea into the last bowl.

She frowned a little at that last one. It made sense; connection to the underworld via Norse mythology, since the plant's ancient name among the vikings had been Baldur's Brow, the god who had been murdered by his own brother; A connection to fire, since it had to be steeped and dried; and a connection to water, for obvious reasons. It was still a little bit on the nose. She'd had to improvise. And it was a waste, besides. This was from her personal stash of limited seasonal teas.

"Well, what's sacrifice if it doesn't mean anything to you," she muttered. She took her place along the first cardinal point, waved the sword and spoke the words from the book, and the bowl containing her offering spontaneously ignited. She could hear Mammoth's gulp from the corner of the room at that. She couldn't stop her grin. The fire meant it was working.

She repeated it for the ring; the demon she was summoning was a lord of betrayal, betraying even their own flesh and blood. The gold seemed to turn to ash as she watched. The mirror shard went the same way, strengthening the circle and allowing her to bind the demon later. The tea... well, it seemed to disappear slowly. Not burned, but as if someone had drank it from the bottom of the bowl, the last tiny bit disappearing with an odd slurp.

She shrugged. It was gone, and thus had been accepted. It wasn't like she was going to stop now, anyway. She returned to the first point, and spoke at last the name of the demon she was binding.

"I summon you forth, Scath! I entreat you, Scath! I bind you, Scath!"

A strange wind seemed to blow from the circle: some of the materials clinked and scattered, and the gathered dust flew all over the room, getting into her lungs and eyes. Mammoth made an odd sound behind her, but she didn't care. It was working! Something was opening in the middle of the circle. A deep darkness which seemed to swallow the light around it. It coalesced and wobbled strangely in the air, quivering, until it finally settled. The circle emitted a bright flash which blinded Jinx for a moment; she took a step back and fell hard on her butt.

"Ow!" She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear them, and got carefully back up again, looking at the circle.

At first, she didn't quite understand what she was seeing between the haze of mystic light and the spots in her eyes. The figure seemed to float in the air, like a mystic guru sitting cross-legged in floating meditation. One slender grey hand, emerging from the darkness of the shape, held a large tome of some kind. It didn't look like what she'd read of Scath, but the symbolism was pretty strong.

"Uh, Boss? What did you do?" Mammoth's voice seemed concerned. Not panicky concerned, more surprised and confused. She rubbed her eyes again, and stared. 

The figure's other hand held a small tea cup in front of a face obscured by the shadow of an indigo cloak. Floating nearby was what smelled like a freshly brewed pot of chamomile tea, suspended by a tendril of black energy - a blackness which seemed like it did not belong in this world, a black which her eyes could hardly accept as real. She looked the figure up and down, even as the figure herself did it to her. There was no mistaking who this was.

"...Well," said Raven, hero of Jump City and Teen Titan, deftly closing the book in her hand with a precise little movement. "This is different."


	2. Inner Demons

"What the hell? How did the ritual even go this wrong?" Jinx bit back another curse, raising her hands in a defensive posture. She wasn't going down without a fight, but this was Raven. The Titans' pet sorceress had always been serious business.

"Boss, is she gonna take us in? I don't wanna go back to the slammer yet. There's a show I like coming up."

She didn't reply, instead watching Raven, who seemed to be mostly ignoring them, instead studying the circle and ritual garb around her intently. She then... chuckled, softly. Jinx hadn't even known Raven could laugh. 

"What's so funny, birdy?"

The sorceress looked at her askance, a tiny smile on her lips. Jinx hadn't known she could smile, either. "I don't know how or why this worked, but it's a miracle this worked at all. You'd have to be astronomically lucky for this mess to make any mystic sense. The Lemegeton? Summoning me, of all people? I didn't take you for someone trying to banish your inner demons."

"Uh..." Jinx cursed herself. She'd just sounded stupid in front of her enemy. She refocused. "I wasn't summoning an inner demon! I was binding a demon to my service! The Ars Goetia is perfect for that!"

"Do you know who Abramelin the Mage was, Jinx?" Raven took a placid sip of her tea, then gently floated the cup down to the floor next to the still-steaming pot.

Jinx blinked. She blinked again. "Oh, crud."

"What's she talkin' about, boss?" asked Mammoth.

"Ugh, this is so stupid. How did I not spot that?" Jinx let the magic in her hand dissipate and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What? What is it?" Mammoth's tone got a little panicked note again.

"It's nothing serious, Mammoth," said Raven. "Your friend here really did use a book designed to summon demons. She just used the wrong version of it. Abramelin used the book we call the Lemegeton, or the Lesser Key of Solomon, solely to summon demons in order to banish their evil influence from his life. It wasn't meant to bind demons to serve him."

"Well, whatever." Jinx huffed in annoyance. "It clearly didn't summon one of my inner demons, so it's not like it didn't work. It just didn't summon who I wanted. Big deal."

"Tell you what," said Raven. "I'll just walk right out of here, go back to the Tower, and I won't tell everyone about your little mistake."

"What, no fight?"

"You didn't exactly kidnap me on purpose, so why bother? We can all agree this was just an embarrassing accident and that will be that."

Jinx narrowed her eyes. Something was off. "If that's all you want to do, why aren't you just teleporting out of here right now?"

Raven's tiny smirk disappeared. "There's no need to be rude."

"Really, now?" Jinx's signature smile crept back up on her face. "Mammoth, go to my room and fetch another one of these, would you?" She pointed to the choker around her neck, with its tiny silver coin attached. "It's in the second drawer on my nightstand. You know the rules."

"Yeah, boss. Touch anything else if I want to die, and look at your books if I want to die twice. You... sure you gonna be alright here?"

"Oh, I'm sure," she said, creeping closer to the edge of the still-glowing magic circle. "I'm pretty sure our friend here isn't actually going anywhere."

"And what makes you think that?", said Raven, her tone a tiny hint more aggressive. And, to Jinx, perhaps a tiny bit more afraid. Jinx waited until Mammoth had closed the door behind them.

"Because I don't think you can leave that circle."

Raven stared directly in her eyes. They suddenly filled with a white glow. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she intoned, the familiar phrase making Jinx's heart race reflexively, before the sorceress' black energy released itself at her face.

Jinx did not budge an inch as the energy impacted and dissipated weakly on the perimeter of her circle. "Called your bluff, Raven. You were trying to fish my permission to leave out of me earlier because you need it to exit the circle. Clever. But not clever enough."

Raven growled wordlessly, physically flying directly at Jinx... and stopping again, her fingers unable to penetrate the invisible barrier between them. "Let me go, Jinx. There doesn't have to be any trouble for you."

"Why would there be trouble for me? You can't touch me."

Raven's body glided until her nose almost touched the circle. "The Titans saw me disappear right in front of them. They'll figure out where I am, and when they do-"

Jinx flicked a single finger, and Raven winced as a bolt of pink energy shot suddenly at her waist. It didn't hit her, impacting only on the yellow communicator on her belt, shattering it into tiny pieces which scattered all over the floor. "Even if that thing could send a signal outside our base, they won't ever be tracking you with that, Rae. Hah! Rae. Like the regular Ray of Sunshine you are."

"My name is Raven", the cloaked sorceress said sullenly.

"It sure is, Sunshine." Jinx approached the circle and breached the barrier enough to touch Raven's nose with her finger, the shock of the contact sending her reeling backwards, falling pitifully to the floor behind her. 

"Boop." Jinx smiled. Oh, she was going to love this.

Raven yelled a battlecry and sent more blackness at her, and again it dissipated to no effect a mere inch from Jinx's face. The sensation of danger was heady to her, almost as heady as this sensation of triumph she was feeling. She had actually captured the most dangerous Titan in her basement. This was almost better than what she'd planned.

Mammoth came back, holding her one spare choker in his hand. "Here you go, boss. What happened to her?"

"Nothing as bad as what's going to happen to her if she doesn't accept this."

"What are you planning, Jinx?" said Raven, eyeing the choker varily.

"You need a symbol of some kind to complete a binding, right?"

Raven glided to the far edge of the circle, her eyes wide undeneath her hood. "No. You wouldn't."

"Oh, I will. And if you don't submit, you can sit here and rot with nothing but your cold tea and your book for company as long as you like."

Raven seemed to consider this, then quietly went to the middle of the circle, poured herself another cup, and opened her book. "Fine by me."

Jinx grinned. "We'll see how long you last." Jinx chanted, even her eyes changing to a pink color. Mammoth took a few steps back. She touched the tiny hidden links on the accessory. "You are bound to obey me," she intoned, infusing her magic into the object. "You are bound to not seek your escape from me. You are bound to see to my safety and defend me from harm. I bind you as your summoner."

The energy travelled across the choker, making the silver coin on it shine strangely. She'd planned on using a dog collar, but this seemed more appropriate, somehow more right, and she'd learned to never question her instincts on these things. This choker's coin held a different design than her regular one. This one had an engraving of a lotus flower. Her usual one was a pierced lucky silver dollar, an ironic gift from long ago, but the lotus one held just as much meaning to her. A fitting symbol of herself to mark her rule over her new servant.

Well, okay, that seemed a little wrong to say in her head. Whatever. She'd work on it.

She tossed the choker at Raven's feet. "As soon as you touch that and put it on, the binding is complete. You're not getting out of this circle without it. It's your choice, Sunshine. And I have a lot of time to burn."

"We'll see." Raven sipped her tea.

"Yeah, keep drinking that. I bet you'll want to use the bathroom pretty quick."

Raven frowned, looking at her full pot, then defiantly sipped her tea again. Jinx smiled. Raven was always the most fun opponent she'd had, but the girl's pride would be her downfall.

"Toodles for now, Sunshine!" Jinx led Mammoth out of the door and began ascending back to the habitable areas of the old HIVE base, chuckling to herself. She felt like brewing herself a pot of chamomile to celebrate. "Just wait until Gizmo and Billy get a load of this, Mammoth! We captured a Titan and she'll have to do what I say!"

"Good time for a heist, boss? We ain't done one of our own heists in a while."

"Yeah, why not? Let's have some fun with this. The Titans can't stop us this time." Jinx giddiness overwhelmed her, and she finally danced and pirouetted her way up the stairs, perilously risking falling over - but somehow never quite doing so as she sung a little improvised ditty. "I captured Raven! I captured Raven!"

Mammoth smiled back at her, showing his teeth.

  
  
  
  
  


"No way!", shouted Gizmo. "You seriously have the Titans' goth girl in our basement?!"

"That seems a mite unsafe to me, Billy," said Billy. "Yeah, I'm with Billy. what if she gets loose and decides to destroy us all, Boss?" said another Billy.

"She won't," said Jinx. "That magic circle was made to be strong enough for the lords of Hell, and it works fine on her. It's not like she's a demon lord or anything."

"And you really think you can make that snot-sniffin' justice monger obey you?"

"Leave the magic stuff to me, Giz. Speaking of which, do you still have those plans for the old Jump City central bank?"

"Yeah, why- Oooh, yeah, are we finally doing it? Are we finally springing that box open?"

"When the Titans are down their pet bird? Damn right we are."

"Heck yeah, Billy! Huddle time!" Several more Billies appeared, placing their arms around each other as if in a group huddle across the kitchen table that doubled as their briefing room. They had a lot of space in the old HIVE tunnel network, but they only trusted a few of the spaces completely, and the less they used the rest the less chance there was of them being discovered.

"Go get those plans and get your presentation ready, Giz. I need to check on our guest. You two were away for about two hours, so she should be stewing nicely."

"Aw yeah, the HIVE rides solo again!" Gizmo's enthusiasm was infectious, spreading to the three other current members (plus or minus a few extra Billies) of the group. They'd so rarely gotten a chance to spread their wings, relying instead on clandestine contract work ever since it became clear they weren't going to beat the Titans so easily again. They'd all been waiting for this chance.

Jinx got up and left the boys to it, thinking as she descended the base's less-used tunnels again. Even if they didn't manage to get Raven to wear her new collar by the time their plans were ready, the Titans would still be down their most dangerous member. They'd been trying to find a fifth for their group before springing back into action, but most of the old HIVE students had simply gone off the grid, or had hated each other's guts anyway. This was a chance at an equal fight, but equal fights were for people who didn't mind losing half the time.

Oh, no, Jinx planned to win. And win hard. She hummed softly as she skipped over some of the old trick steps and avoided some walls and floors. The HIVE had been designed to resist intrusion, but even now they hadn't managed to disable all of its traps. Some of them were randomized, some only activated months after the Academy closed, others somehow seemed to move around inside the arcane machinery in the walls which even Gizmo could not fully understand yet. It was no accident that the tunnels had been left behind, untouched even by civilian developers and superheroes; it would be many years of work to make them safe again, work no one really wanted to take on. But Jinx had moved right back in with her group, and they'd carved out a few spaces of their own. It was as safe as they were ever going to be.

She heard Raven chanting well before she found the right door. 'Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos', over and over. She opened the door, finding Raven sitting in the exact center of her circle, her kettle of tea empty and lying to the side as if to deliberately prove it, the choker untouched on the ground.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," Raven said one more time before opening her eyes, which glowed a pure white for a second before settling into the familiar blue, visible under the hood's darkness. The darkness must have been magical somehow, Jinx reasoned. There was so much they didn't know about the girl.

"Doesn't that hood get hot, gloomy girl?" asked Jinx.

"Does your hair ever come down, pinky?", she quipped right back.

"Nope. Not even if I wanted it to. I think you just like being all gloomy and creepy, though. I bet the other Titans use you like a scarecrow."

Raven rolled her eyes, clearly familiar with this game. "Is there a point to this, Jinx?"

"Yeah. You putting on that choker."

"Not happening."

"Oh, not yet, I'm sure. But you will. I'm not bringing in any bedding for you. And you're not getting dinner with the rest of us."

"...Joy." The simple word dripped with such sarcasm than Jinx couldn't help but giggle. It was the most emotional outburst she'd heard from Raven yet. "What next, going to use me as a target for your hex bolts while I can't respond too?"

Jinx hesitated. "What? No. What's wrong with you?"

"...You're already torturing me with isolation and deprivation but you draw a line at hurting me? My, how moral."

Jinx felt her face flush. "Wow. I thought you were the hero here, but you're already thinking about torture. No. There's a line there and you know it, Sunshine. Besides," she smiled, "I don't need something like that."

"...Because you think I can't handle this? I've suffered this willingly on my own. It won't break me."

Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Why would you even... you know what, you leave your kinky stuff out of this."

Raven's eyes shot wide open. "...Er, what? No!"

Jinx grinned. She'd accidentally hit a weakness. So Raven was closeted and shy about that, was she? That could be useful. "Hey, come to think of it, you brought up making you feel pain. What, are you're going to ask me to bring in a whip, maybe some candles and straps because you can handle it-"

"Jinx... No, thank you." Raven didn't rise to the bait, instead choosing to glide to her feet. "I have fasted and meditated in isolation and sense deprivation chambers for days before. I have mastered mental techniques for ignoring the sensations of my body. I can slow down my metabolism so I don't need food or water for weeks at a time. I learned all of that by the time I was thirteen. Your plan, such as it is, isn't going to work."

Jinx silently cursed. If even half of that was true, Raven wasn't going to crack as easily as she'd thought. She went for another approach. "So I really should move on to the whips and leather then, is what you're saying?"

Raven's face was visible enough to Jinx to see the faint blush on Raven's cheeks. Oh, yeah, a little bit of a prude in her. Maybe the girl really had trained with monks. "Ooh, I see your face getting red under there. I bet the rest of it will look just as nice when I'm done with you."

"...Yikes." Raven visibly gathered her composure and walked closer, her slightly scratchy voice regaining its usual tone. "Well, I have to admit this is a first, but maybe I should have expected it. Did the HIVE teach you to use seduction as a weapon, or is that all you?"

"Hey, when you run with villains, you either take charge or they try to. That's business." Jinx knew that Raven was aware of the Hive's old curriculum thanks to that traitor Cyborg. No use denying it. She walked closer. "So do I take charge, or do you? I can do either."

To Jinx's annoyance, Raven seemed to have recentered herself. All she did was smile slightly. 

"...What's going to happen is that I sit down and wait for the Titans to find me. And nothing else."

Jinx looked Raven in the eye, daring her to make a move. They stood like that for a few seconds. Then she stepped closer, right to the edge of the circle. Raven's face came closer, answering the challenge. Jinx could feel Raven's breath passing the barrier that the rest of her could not, smelling faintly of chamomile tea. The proximity made Jinx almost shiver. Raven was a deadly foe, and she loved the sensation of danger.

"You will put that choker on, Raven. I guarantee it."

"You can't make me."

"You'll do it all on your own. Especially when we beat the other Titans while you're not around to back them up. We've had plans ready for a long time."

It was a tiny white lie, unusual for her; the plans hadn't been for this event. But Raven's eye still twitched just a tiny bit. Raven's hands slowly rose to her hood, drawing it back, revealing... Well, a very pretty face, Jinx had to admit. Large, expressive eyes, full lips, grey face framed by a neck-length curtain of purple hair. Even her eyebrows were purple, indicating that she was like Jinx - a natural unnatural. Purplette to her pinkette. Raven was making a point by revealing her face, showing Jinx she wasn't afraid. "And I can play this game for a long time, Jinx." 

The threat fell on deaf years as Jinx spotted the gem on Raven's forehead and felt the frown creep on her face.

"Bitch, that better not be some kind of fucking new age Bindi."

"...Er. What?" Raven's voice faltered again.

"That thing," Jinx said, pointing at Raven's forehead. "A Bindi not some fashion accessory you can wear casually."

"...Oh. The gem." Raven stepped back slightly, a little surprised. "No, it's not a Bindi. It's a Lens of Azar, and has its own tradition and history."

Jinx narrowed her eyes at Raven's now-curious ones. "Alright, fine. I'll choose to believe that for now. Even though I've never heard of anything called 'Azar.'"

"Sure you have," said Raven, smirking. "AZAR-ath, Metrion, Zinthos. I'm pretty sure you've heard me say that before. I'm just surprised you care about Bindis at all."

Jinx turned away. "Yeah, well, it's not like you know me. Any more than I know you. I'll make you tell me what those words mean someday, Sunshine."

"...I'll tell you right now, if you want."

Jinx halted and turned back around on her heel. "Wait, seriously? You'll just explain your magic words to me, just like that?"

"They are called the Mantra of Zinthos. They're not magical at all. They are the core meditation of the Monks of Azar to achieve focus and control over their bodies and minds and simply happen to be useful for magic as well." Raven smirked in the way Jinx was beginning to find annoying. "And now I've explained them to you."

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Oh, sure. Because I know what all of that means. If you're energetic enough to play games, I clearly haven't left you down here by yourself long enough." She turned to leave.

"It won't work no matter how long you keep me," said Raven, almost mockingly.

"It will if you don't want to pee yourself." Jinx did a mocking little salute of her own, sending a hex-bolt flying at the tea kettle on the ground, shattering it. "Don't want you to use that, either."

"...I liked that kettle."

"Too bad. Toodles." Jinx closed the door behind her. It was time to start the next phase.


	3. Bound

Jinx woke up early, feeling nice and refreshed. She found Mammoth passed out on the sofa after having watched some documentary or other, as usual, and tiptoed around him to the kitchen. She took her time with breakfast, giving herself an extra helping of eggs, and brewed a kettle of tea. She put the tea and a cup on a little tray and skipped down towards the lower levels again.

As she travelled, she started hearing the discordant thumps, strange wails and odd warbles from below. They were low enough that they hadn't been audible in the upper rooms where the HIVE four (and soon to hopefully be five) lived, but down here they echoed weirdly. She hummed randomly along with the noise as she descended, finally finding her target.

A small speaker was hooked into an outlet on the wall. It was playing that Gizmo called his collection of "noise ambient", which was supposedly different from his collection of ambient noise. No one else could stand this niche-within-a-niche genre of music, so he was banned from playing it without headphones. Jinx had left it overnight as a present for Raven. She shut it off and barged in, looking at the circle.

The entire circle was shrouded on the inside in seemingly impenetrable darkness which nonetheless did not pass the perimeter drawn by it. She took a sip. "Ah, nothing like a spot of tea in the morning. Hello, Sunshine. Did you have a good night's rest?"

No answer came.

"It's no use pretending you're not in there, you know. I'm not that stupid." She opened the kettle, letting the smell penetrate the room. "Mm, can you smell that? Smells like summer."

Still no response. Jinx chuckled.

"You can have some, you know. Just put on the choker."

Something shifted within the darkness. Jinx bent in for a closer look.

A horrid screech, like a thousand tortured ravens cawing all at once, filled the room. Something... shadowy, dark, assaulted the edge of the circle. To Jinx's sudden horror, the barrier seemed to buckle and bend, wrapping itself around the mass as it flew towards her, barely restraining it. She backed up in alarm, nearly dropping the tray, flattening herself against the wall.

And just as the mass seemed to be close to touching her, it... stopped. Straining, creaking, screaming, but unable to go any further. The circle's protection snapped back, sending the mass flying, causing a sudden very feminine cry of frustration from within it.

Jinx found herself at a momentary loss for words as she watched the shadows fold in on themselves somehow, finally revealing the shape of a frustrated and sweating Raven, her hand against the edge of the circle's barrier. Raven spat, and her legs gave out, leaving her panting on the ground.

"Holy hell, Raven." Jinx didn't like how small her voice sounded.

"...Your circle...", the sorceress panted, "...was made for demons. It's not perfect for me..." she gulped a breath of air, "and I WILL find a way out of it!"

The familiar white glow of Raven's eyes when performing her magic seemed to have an almost... reddish, tint to them. Jinx swallowed and slowly composed herself.

"Will you now." She slowly put down the tea tray. "And will you recover all the strength you just spent to try again?"

Raven didn't answer.

Jinx smirked, shakily. "Didn't think so. Tell you what. I'll bring down a little breakfast. I'm not interested in starving you to death. Do keep tiring yourself out all you want. Or..."

"...Or what?"

"Just submit now."

"...No."

"As you like it." Jinx gathered up her tray, taking another sip. "I'll be back once I've finished my tea. Hope you enjoy the music."

  
  
  


"Hey, boss! Guess what we found up top today!"

Jinx had finished her tea, instead opting to take her sweet time getting herself groomed, exercised and ready before cooking Raven's breakfast. Billy had done his usual rounds of intel and running to keep in shape. "What's up, Billy?"

"Well Billy here," said Billy, pointing to a Billy, "found one'a'these flying around." It was a newspaper, which the Billy in question was waving in front of Jinx's face. She bided her time and grabbed it at the perfect moment, then read it.

'RAVEN MISSING?' said the caption on the front page. "That was fast," muttered Jinx.

"Some reporters' keepin' tabs on the Tower, looks like, tracking who goes on nightly patrol an' stuff." "Yeah, Billy, makes me think we should get that person to report to us sometime!" "Good idea, Billy!"

"Hush", said Jinx, knowing Billy would never shut up once he got started. She scanned the report. "Guys, keep watch on topside today. The minute some of the usual deranged city-threats read this, they're going to come crawling out of the woodwork."

"Oh, that already happened. Billy saw Doctor Light earlier, shouting something 'bout the Light survivin' the Darkness while uprootin' half of central park." "Sure did! And he's even clipped Beast Boy pretty bad!"

Jinx smiled. This might end up being useful.

  
  
  


Jinx tossed a plate of two sunny-side-up eggs inside the magic circle, along with the newspaper. She waited to see Raven's reaction.

"Not even a fork, Jinx?"

Jinx didn't answer. Raven slowly, and distastefully, began picking at the eggs. "I prefer them scrambled."

"I'll be sure to inform room service," said Jinx. "By the way, people have noticed you're gone."

"...Unfortunate. Robin would have wanted that kept secret for as long as possible." She ate the eggs as if she had just finished a five-course meal earlier, savoring the taste, chewing slowly, not wanting to bend her pride even for a second and let Jinx know how hungry she actually was. Jinx felt a little twinge of respect and admiration for the purple-headed menace. Not even the discordant 'music' had affected her in the slightest.

Raven glanced at the paper. "This reporter, huh. Robin is going to be all up in Cyborg's business to tighten security again."

"Some of the usual gang of idiots are starting to notice too. Grapevine says Johnny Rancid is putting hurried finishing touches on some kind of giant robot spider, and Doctor Light is already tearing the place up. Apparently he already hurt Beast Boy. The Questionably Amazing Mumbo also told some of our contacts he was putting on a show downtown this afternoon, in case they wanted to come."

"...I somehow doubt you care."

"See, there you'd be wrong."

Raven looked Jinx in the eye, eyebrow raised.

"I like this city, Raven. Always have. Second favorite city next to San Francisco, in fact, and that's not far from here either. And you know what I don't want?"

"...What?"

"To see it gone. To see it hurt. I live here, Sunshine. I make my living here. I like the tea shop by fifth street and the restaurants and the specialty bookstores and even the mall with the one stinky mall cop who hates all teenagers and chases them around, super or otherwise. This large-scale destruction and mayhem thing ain't my style."

"There's a simple solution to that, Jinx. Just let me go. I'll rejoin the Titans and deal with it."

"No, there's a much better solution." Jinx scooted closer to the edge of the circle, looking Raven in the eye once again. "Your friends are spread thin. They're hurting. You want to help them. You want it so bad."

Raven's eyes widened, but her composure wasn't perfect. Jinx had her exactly where she wanted her.

"So I'll make you a little deal. You put on that collar. You submit to my orders. And as my first few orders, we'll go out and kick some ass for a little return to normality. We'll save your friends, and the city."

Raven glanced, involuntarily, at the still-untouched choker on the floor. Jinx pressed the advantage.

"One of your friends is already hurt. Doctor Light got Beast Boy pretty hard with one of his beams. How long do you think they'll keep it up? You trust them, but can they do it all on their own?"

"...I have no guarantee that you'll keep your word."

"You have no guarantee that your friends will be okay."

Raven looked from the choker back to her and to the choker again. "You really do love this city."

Jinx nodded. "Yeah, I do." She wasn't lying. She wasn't even in the habit. And fortunately, it seemed like Raven believed her, despite having no reason to.

"...Can I have a shower and use the bathroom first?"

Jinx's eyebrows shot up, and she smiled. "I'll let you use my personal one. The boys' one is gross."

Raven got up and bent down to pick up the choker. As she touched it, something new happened. Odd red script flared all over the visible parts of her body. On her forehead, under the gem, a rune Jinx had seen before appeared, bright red and flashing - but different somehow, as if it had been broken. Raven flinched away from the choker as she saw the red script, breathing heavily.

"Wh-what? Jinx, what did you do? What have you done?"

"Done? I summoned you. That's what I've done."

"Who... were you trying to summon?"

"Just some demon called Scath."

Jinx looked at Raven as she flinched away from the choker again, almost hyperventilating. Whatever was happening, it was clearly affecting the girl. Jinx saw the opportunity and went in for the kill.

"Are you putting it on or not, Raven? Time's ticking away."

Raven looked at her, almost terrified, and then... strangely, visibly, calmed down. She walked back over to the choker and picked it up, unheeding of the strange red runes glowing all over her.

"...You're lucky, Jinx. Incredibly lucky."

"Me? You've got me backwards. I'm bad luck, Sunshine."

"No. You're lucky that you failed to summon Scath. Lucky that you could never have done it. Luckier than you'll ever know." With those mysterious words, she snaked the little accessory around her neck. It clamped shut on its own, and Raven's body convulsed slightly as the runes cast their eerie red glow across the room before disappearing once again, as if they'd never been there.

Jinx tested her control. "Repeat the terms of your binding, Raven."

"I am bound to obey you," the sorceress intoned monotonously. "I am bound to not seek my escape from you. I am bound to see to your safety and defend you from harm. You bind me, as my summoner."

Jinx grinned, but somehow wasn't feeling it as strongly as she thought she would. Something was off about all of this. She pushed her doubt to the back of her mind. "Ground rules, Raven. When I command you, I'm explicit. I will say that I am commanding you."

"...Understood." The red runes flared brightly, then faded again.

"I command this: When you're not with me in the base, you're not to leave it. You're not to read the books on my shelves. You're not to use any means of contact with the outside world."

"...Yes." Another red flare.

"And I command this: when we're outside, you're not to leave my sight willingly unless I say so, and always return to me as soon as possible."

"...Yes." The red runes flared again. Jinx didn't like it, but she supposed she could live with turning Raven into a flashlight every time she gave her a command. She'd just have to be circumspect about it.

"Good. Excellent. You may now leave the circle, Raven."

Raven stepped across the barrier as if it wasn't there and pulled up her hood, not meeting Jinx's eyes.

"Great. Okay, let's pick up this junk and bring it upstairs."

"Is... that a command?"

"Nah. But it can be."

"...Alright."

Before Jinx could even bend her knees to get any of it, Raven had gathered up broken crockery, ritual paraphernalia, books and assorted bits with her powers, encasing each in turn in her mystic energy. Jinx frowned.

"Hm. One extra command, while I'm at it; when I'm not with you, don't use your powers."

"...Understood." The red flash shadowed the room strangely this time, lingering longer than before.

Raven's total tone of defeat annoyed Jinx. Or rather, made her annoyingly sympathetic to the Titan. It was like she had been broken. She swatted the girl's shoulder, getting her attention.

"Chin up, Sunshine. We're going to go kick some ass in a bit. I'll even help."

Raven looked at her for the first time since putting on the choker. "...Bathroom and shower first, please."

Jinx laughed. "Come right along. I've got some bodywash you'll like."


	4. Crime and Pun-ishment

Raven emerged from the ground as if it had not been there, lifting her cloak to reveal Jinx. The pinkette shivered a little.

"Sheesh, that feels weird. No wonder the Titans don't use you to travel everywhere."

Raven, smelling of fresh apples after what had to have been the most thorough shower of her life, looked at Jinx quizzically. "Which way, oh glorious leader?"

An explosion shook the street ahead of them, and from the corner they could see a ray of light impacting on a police car, flipping it over.

Jinx smiled back at Raven. "Run right towards the trouble, of course!"

"No need." Before Jinx could ask what Raven meant, she was engulfed in the darkness of her cloak again-

**-suspended in a weightless void, yet surrounded by a thousand times a thousand specks of red, like the eyes of crows waiting to peck out her eyes but held back by only the slimmest of threads, feeling but not feeling the sensation of movement as Raven flew towards her destination-**

-reappearing in the street they'd been looking at, staring at Doctor Light's back as he stood atop a car, laughing uproariously at the feeble resistance below him.

Jinx shivered. "A little warning next time, Sunshine! Yeesh!"

Raven ignored her, focusing instead on Doctor Light beginning one of his tirades. "Ah, you poor folks are still wandering in the darkness, never once seeing the Light!" He blasted a storefront with a sweep of his hand. "You cling to the illusions of monetary value for the sake of comfort, not allowing yourselves to know the truth that your lives find no meaning in pieces of paper. Seize it, citizens! Seize the day as I have, now that the darkness is gone! See the Light, and take everything your heart desires!"

"Oh, good," said Raven, not at all enthused. "Not only is he still making the puns, he's become radicalized. Give me a moment."

Raven... expanded, somehow, as if she had grown larger. The sun above seemed to dim in her presence, the ambient light giving way to shadow. Doctor Light looked around. "What? Who dares? Who-" he choked on his words as he turned around.

The giant that was Raven bent down slightly, her glowing white eyes meeting Doctor Light's own.

"Boo."

Light whimpered, then lost all the strength in his legs, and started babbling as he feverishly unbuckled pieces of his armor. "They told us the darkness was gone! Reporters are meant to bring to people the light of truth! I did not know! I could not have known! Let me go! Leave me be!!"

He threw pieces of his armor away as Raven silently stared at him, finally running nearly naked to the cowering police officers. "Take me in, officers! Take me in! Save me from her! SAVE ME!!"

And then... Raven was back to normal. Jinx hadn't even blinked, but somehow the sun was shining again. She squinted, unsure of what she'd just seen. Even as she watched, Raven's power casually flattened and crunched the discarded armor where it lay.

"That's one down," said Raven languidly. "Where's our next stop?"

"Holy... Raven, What did even you do to that guy?"

"...Enough."

"I mean," Jinx continued, "I'd heard rumors, but... Damn."

"Jinx, if we don't keep moving the reporters are going to know it's safe and start swarming us."

"Oh. Right." She brought out her HIVE communicator and looked at it. She made a little annoyed sound when she saw where Mumbo was. "Downtown to Jump City central bank. Mumbo's active there, fighting Starfire and Robin. Cyborg is busy over on the East side with Johnny Rancid but seems to have it under control thanks to some new techy thing."

A distant explosion, and what sounded like the distinct, echoing sound of the loudest Booyah ever uttered, answered her.

"...Cyborg must have finally gotten his virus bomb to work. Alright, here we go."

"Wait a-

**-the darkness was endless, or was it finite? Was it only within her? Was it outside the universe? It felt like she was in all places at once and yet none, the world gliding past her as she weaved under and over and between and through objects and buildings and people, the street becoming sky and the sky becoming like water -**

-minute, agh, Raven! Come on!"

"I warned you," she said, smirking.

"Don't push it." Jinx looked around; it seemed they were inside the bank, with the fight having moved outside. It was chaos, with broken internal walls all over, but it looked like Mumbo hadn't managed to get into the vault. This worked out perfectly for what she wanted after all. She grinned and pressed a button on her communicator. "Alright boys, execute the plan."

"...What?"

"Don't worry about it. Don't we have a fraud of a magician to expose? Oh, one thing: When I command you in front of the Titans, I command you to ham it up. Call me mistress and stuff. Send them a message."

The red runes flared. "Ugghh. Fine."

Jinx laughed at the unexpected sass from her command. "You're just full of surprises today!"

  
  
  
  


"Starfire! Take him out from above! I'll go at him from below!"

Starfire swooped up at Robin's command, but Mumbo was ready for them.

"Come now, did you think I wasn't on the BALL?" He clicked his heels and, sure enough, a giant ball appeared below him, launching him into the sky right up to a shocked Starfire. Robin's freshly thrown batarang punctured the ball on the ground, sending Robin flying from the escaping air.

"And as for you, dear," he said, "have you thought about quitting the hero business and LANDING yourself a real job? Presto Chango!" The magician flicked his wrist and revealed a giant comedy-sized ten ton weight somehow, placing it on top of Starfire, who rapidly descended to the ground, only barely rolling herself to the side before it impacted, crushing an armored car beneath it. Mumbo himself glided easily to the ground, carried by a pair of gloves which were flapping their fingers like pigeons as he laughed.

"Robin! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Star. We have to come up with some kind of plan! Being down three members isn't getting us far!"

As he said it, a nearby wall exploded open, revealing a large green rhino. It morphed quickly into the familiar form of Beast Boy with a fresh elastic bandage on one arm.

"Beast Boy! You should not fight while you are injured!" said Starfire.

"You guys need all the help you can get! I'm not going to just lie down and let you do it all!" Beast Boy's words were braver than his arm could handle; the Rhino had been visibly limping, and flight was out of the question.

Mumbo laughed. "Oh, have you been hurt? Why don't I lend you a helping HAND?" He whipped off his glove, revealing another glove underneath, and tossed it at them. It grew in size, towering over the Titans, and assumed a fighting stance.

"We can't be distracted forever," said Robin. "We need some kind of advantage."

"You got it," said an unfamiliar, feminine voice from behind Mumbo. They all turned to face the new voice. Starfire's face lit up the moment she saw who was there.

"Friend Raven! You are alive and well!"

"...Debatable," said Raven.

Jinx grinned. Apparently Raven's sass was just a thing she did to everyone. She was starting to like it. "Raven! I command you to take down Mumbo!"

"Yes... Mistress." Apparently the command to give the Titans a show wasn't limited to words; the red runes almost exploded into light, shining even through Raven's clothing, her cloak lifting away to reveal their full splendor.

Mumbo seemed unconcerned. "My, my, two magical girls come to the rescue. Are you sure you two wouldn't rather by part of my sideshow?"

"Positive," said Jinx, twirling to the side and tossing a hex bolt at some incoming playing card projectiles from Mumbo while glancing at the titans. What she saw was unexpected.

The three Titans seemed terrified... and sad. "No!" said Starfire. "Oh, no, my Friend! I thought we would never see those marks on you again!"

"I wish you didn't have to, Star," said Raven, before launching herself into the air. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

  
  
  
  


In the bank behind them the floor exploded, revealing a hole to darkness below. Gizmo emerged, climbing out of it with the spider-like appendages in his backpack, followed quickly by Billy standing on his own shoulders until he was out of the hole, then reabsorbing everyone behind him, looking real proud of himself.

"Hey, Giz, where's Mammoth?" asked Billy.

Another hole exploded outwards several feet away, revealing Mammoth.

"Ugh, Mam, we were supposed to be over here! Can't you read a plan for once?"

Mammoth grinned and shrugged.

"Okay, snots-for-brains, you two case the place and take any loose valuables, I go work on the vault while Jinx and Raven got the stinkin' Titans distracted. Man. That feels weird just to say. And get any remaining stinkin' civilians out of here, Billy! We don't need this to be a hostage thing!"

"Right you are- er, right we are- er, I'm Billy Numerous!"

  
  
  
  


Mumbo quickly lost control of the situation. He'd make one silly pun, only for a gorilla to punch him in the back. He'd give him an ape of a time, only to catch a batarang. And dodging green bolts was difficult enough without pink hexes making him trip and large black projectiles sweeping the air around him.

He dodged a black-energy encased car wreck and decided to cut his losses. "Well, kids, looks like you've gone and properly crashed my show this time. But you'll never catch, The Amazing Mum-"

"Yoink."

"What?" Mumbo patted his head, realizing his hat had gone missing. "What?! Who-"

"Me," said Jinx, perched on top of the black-encased car she'd been hiding inside, now hovering in midair. She twirled the hat in her hands and put it on her head. "I think I'll keep this. Suits me, don't you think?"

"How did you even sneak up on me?!" screamed Mumbo.

"I'm a thief. Thieves never reveal their secrets." She held the brim of her hat between the thumb and forefinger, extended one leg like a magician's assistant might, and tipped the hat slightly, winking.

"No! Nooo!" Before Mumbo could try to recover his hat, a titanium staff hit him in the back and pinned him to the ground.

"That's the final curtain for you, Mumbo. No encores." Robin quickly brought out a pair of cuffs and, fortunately for everyone, a gag to shut the magician up. He brought out his communicator. "Cyborg, report."

"I took Rancid down in style, I'm on my way in the T-car. Hey, you're not gonna believe this, but the cops told me Raven took down Doctor Light! Guess our girl found her way home!"

"Not quite, Cyborg. Get over here quickly. Mumbo's down, but there's a situation. Robin out."

"Oh, I'm a situation now, am I?" said Jinx, still wearing Mumbo's hat, backing up towards the bank with Raven hovering near her. "I need to step up my game, I should be at least an emergency. Or maybe a disaster?"

"All you are is going down, Jinx." Robin punctuated his answer by raising his staff in a combat stance, but was distracted by the growing green glow from behind him. He turned his head, seeing starfire. "Star? Are you-"

"What have you done with Friend Raven, you-you FIEND?" Starfire's entire body was wreathed in radioactive fire, her eyes bleeding energy so wildly it blended with that emerging from her fists. Her voice cracked windows in nearby buildings, and she flew seemingly by sheer rage.

"Dude, I've never seen Starfire this mad," said Beast Boy, now limping on his leg as well.

Before Jinx could make another quip, Starfire launched herself at them with a thunderclap, breaking the sound barrier. She screamed her fury at the pink-haired witch, who stumbled backwards-

-but Starfire impacted on a solid surface of blackness, the force of the impact digging it into the ground as Raven and Jinx were forced backwards.

"Raven! Please!" pleaded Starfire. "You must fight her hold over you!"

Raven's runes flared red and bright again. "I'm sorry, Starfire. That's impossible. I can't let you harm my mistress. She has commanded it."

Jinx didn't even find it in her to smile at Raven's hammy phrasing. She was too absorbed in the drama in front of her, just like the Titans were.

Starfire flinched backwards, circling them again, her anger reignited. "She has done something unforgivable to you, I know it! I'm sorry, Raven! If I must hurt you to free you, I will!"

"I know, Star. I understand. But you're right." Raven's magic seemed to wobble oddly, extending strange tendrils, as her eyes turned nearly red. "You will have to hurt me to get to her."

Starfire backed away, her fire dimming slightly. "Raven. Is there no way for you to resist this?"

"I..." Raven hesitated, and her runes flared. Whatever she was about to say, she couldn't finish it due to her binding. "Starfire, please. I don't want to fight you. It's hard to maintain my control as it is."

Something about what Raven said reignited Starfire's anger. "Then I will do as I must, and we will pick up the pieces later. Please forgive me for what I shall do."

"...You know I will."

Before Jinx could properly react, Starfire exploded forward again. Raven encased herself and Jinx in a dark bubble, which dragged with a terrible screech across the steps of the bank and into the building itself.

Right into Mammoth.

"Ow," he said, as he was knocked to the side and into a wall, breaking one of the remaining supports. Starfire stopped and took stock of the situation.

"I see. Jinx has tricked us."

"Sure did," said Jinx, recovering from being dragged across the floor. "Boys, did you get everything you could?"

"Right on, boss! Billy, you done with the other floors?" "Sure am, Billy!" "Dang skippy, Billy!" "Dang skippy? That just sounds stupid, Billy." "Does not!" "Does too!"

Beast Boy and Robin filtered into the bank, watching the influx of Billies. "Jinx was just distracting us! Titans, Go!"

"Raven! I command you to stop them!" shouted Jinx. Before the Titans could move an inch, Raven's darkness enveloped... everything. It was as if the world suddenly travelled in slow motion - everything, that is, except the HIVE members. Mammoth got up and brushed himself off. "Gizmo's gone out ahead, boss. Billy, get down the hole, we're done!"

Billy stopped arguing and followed Mammoth down, giving Jinx and Raven the thumbs up. "You did great, bird girl!" "Yeah, welcome to the HIVE!"

As Billy disappeared down the hole, Raven turned to her pinkette captor. "...I hate you, Jinx."

Before Jinx could respond, the darkness retreated back into Raven, who collapsed to one knee, groaning. The Titans stopped in their tracks.

"Dude! Where did they go?" Beast boy morphed into a bloodhound and immediately seemed to regret it as he yelped and fell over on his injured legs before morphing back. "This sucks."

Then the entire building shook.

"The foundations!" said Robin. "Between Mumbo and whatever the HIVE did, the building is collapsing!"

"Better get out while you still can!" said Jinx, panicking on the inside. This wasn't part of the plan. Damn her luck! "Don't worry, I told my boys to get all civilians clear!" She said this with more confidence than she felt; one, it had been Billy's job, and two, she had to make it seem like she was in control.

"But what about you two-" Robin was interrupted by Starfire who swooped in, pushing him out of the way of a large piece of collapsing roof.

"We must go!" she said, grabbing Beast Boy by the collar and flying away, looking back at Raven. "Raven! you gotta get out of here!" he said as he was carried off.

Raven looked at jinx, their black shield still encasing them.

"Down there!" said Jinx, pointing to one of the holes in the floor. There weren't supposed to be multiple holes, either, so she had no idea if it was the right one. "Better keep this shield up, Sunshine, this isn't what was supposed to happen!" As she spoke, both holes were plugged by falling debris. They were as good as trapped.

"...I figured," Raven said, swiftly enveloping them both and sinking into the ground as the ceiling collapsed into the floor here they'd been only a second before.

"RAVEN!" shouted Beast Boy.

Starfire landed with both her friends in hand, letting them down gently, then turned to Robin and cried into his shoulder. Robin awkwardly hugged her with one arm. Beast boy simply collapsed on the ground.

Just then, the T-car rolled into view and Cyborg came out. "Damn, what went down here?"

The other Titans looked at him.

"What? What'd I say?"


	5. Tunnel Vision

Jinx emerged from darkness into mostly darkness. Somehow, this last, short trip had been worse than all the others combined. A single light on a distant wall told them they were in some kind of tunnel, probably a disused subway going by the metal rail.

"Hey, is it me or are those little jaunts getting worse?"

"...They are," came her answer. "I'm losing my balance. Fighting my friends was taxing on me. I need to meditate."

"Or what?"

The single distant light crackled and exploded, completely encasing them in darkness.

"...That."

"Ah. Er, can you find me by my voice?"

Jinx heard footsteps come closer and felt Raven's hand in hers, and sighed with relief. She wasn't afraid of the dark, but she didn't like being alone in it.

"That was fast. Can you see in the dark or something?"

"...Yes."

"Wait, seriously? You just seem to have the weirdest collection of powers, Raven. I can never pin you down."

"Good."

"...Riiiight. So I take it doing the little darkness teleport thing isn't an option right now?"

"I... don't really feel up to it. Not while keeping you safe too."

"Noted. How far did you take us?"

Raven didn't answer.

"Raven? How far did you-"

"I'm not sure. I'm not even sure we are below the bank, exactly. I couldn't find the tunnels the others used and got a little... panicked."

"Are we at least in Jump City?"

"I... think so."

"Great. Cool. Guess we start walking." Jinx sighed and started, but immediately tripped on something, hissing between her teeth, held up only by Raven's hand in hers which only served to twist her leg more than falling would have. She gripped the hand more tightly as Raven helped her up. "Ah, crap. I just twisted my ankle, I think. Can you make light or something?"

Raven whispered "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos" under her breath and held up her hand.

It was the weirdest sensation Jinx had ever experienced, even weirder than the odd timeless void inside Raven's cloak. Somehow, despite there being no light, she could see the darkness Raven had conjured, even see 'rays' of it beaming out from it, and distinguish even without light that it was separate, somehow deeper, from the regular darkness of the tunnel, somehow able to reveal shapes to her vision without lighting them. What it didn't do was let her see worth a damn. The juxtaposition in the dark just hurt her eyes. Or brain. Or both.

Jinx shook her head. "Yeah, no, that's not helping. Please turn it off before I get sick."

Raven dropped her hand. "Even that was taxing. Better not try it again right away. Can you do something like that, Jinx?"

"I mean, I can't really hold my power consciously like that for too long, only on reflex, but I guess..." Jinx held out a finger and tried to hold a bit of energy in it. The pink glow stayed there for a few seconds, then wobbled wildly and shot forward instead, impacting on a nearby wall, illuminating it for a second. Then it ricocheted into another wall, into the ceiling, into the gravel below them, covering them both in sand.

"...Yeah, Let's not," said Raven dryly, spitting out some grit.

"Agreed," said Jinx. "But what can we do? I'll just trip over everything, I can’t walk with this ankle right away and you can't carry me-"

Jinx felt Raven's arms swiftly move behind her back and under her knees, pulling her aloft before she'd finished her sentence, and she yelped and reflexively threw her arms around Raven's neck. Her face felt a little hot.

"Oh. I thought you said you were tired."

"Mentally, I need to find my center again. My body is fine."

"And my, what a strong body it is. Do you lift or something?"

"...Let's focus on getting out." Raven began walking forwards, and Jinx nuzzled in closer, not wanting to hit her head on something. She quickly grabbed Mumbo's hat off her head, still somehow perched there after all this trouble, opting to hold it in her hand instead while being carried. She never liked to lose a good heist souvenir.

“It’s funny, Sunshine. I bound you to see to my safety but I didn’t even have to invoke it just now.”

“...What are you talking about?”

“You just dove right in and swept me up like a knight. You totally have a hero complex, don’t you. I guess the big T you live in might have been a hint.”

“...The right thing to do is just the right thing even when it’s to help you, Jinx. Don’t read into it.”

"Suuuure. Lead on, you big strong wizard you."

"...Please shut up."

"You great big mass of hero muscle."

"Pleeease be quiet."

"You big-boobed slab of beef bulk."

"...Ugh." Raven was quiet for a second. "...and they're not that big. Why are you even saying that."

"Compared to mine, they are."

"And are yours a universal standard of comparison?"

"What, are you gonna let Them decide for you? Make up your own standards, Sunshine, then you'll never fail to meet the standards of others."

"...Who's they?"

"You know. Them."

"I… Why are we even..." Jinx felt Raven gently shaking her head. "...Jinx. Are you just talking because you don't like the silence?"

"Am I that obvious?"

"...We should try to find a light quickly."

"Aw, you do care."

"...About shutting you up."

Jinx chuckled and held herself closer to Raven, but didn't reply right away. Her years of paranoia immediately made her listen for intruders in the darkness, for someone stepping on the peanut shells she'd spilled around her sleeping box in the street as a cheap alarm system, for the desperate robber following her who thought a street kid would be an easier target than a pedestrian, for the angry voice of the villager she recognized as her old teacher, now throwing a rock her way…

Jinx didn't enjoy darkness that much. It brought back memories. Somehow, Raven seemed to sense her emotional state and held her a little tighter - or was it just her imagination? Just as Jinx was about to talk some more, Raven stopped.

"Hey, what's up? Why'd you stop?"

"There's a four-way intersection here, but I can't read the signs. I can only distinguish shapes without light."

"Can't we just pick a random direction?"

"...How would that help us?"

"We're already lost. What are we gonna be, more lost?"

Raven huffed, annoyed. Jinx listened to the darkness a little more, settling on the heartbeat she felt in Raven's chest. It beat regular beats, almost unnaturally so given the circumstances, reminding her somehow of flowing blood and excitement and the red glow of the battle…

"Raven! I got an idea!"

"...What?"

"I command you to light up those red rune things."

As easy as that, Raven's collection of bright red scrawl lit them both up like the angriest christmas tree in the universe, lighting the tunnel around them. It pulsed, and Jinx realized the runes were pulsing in time with Raven's heartbeat. Something about that unsettled her more than the runes themselves already had.

"Jinx," said Raven, her voice scratchier than usual.

"Yes?"

"You are using the Mark of Scath, Destroyer of Worlds, Conqueror of Realities, Lord of Betrayal and Master of Darkness... as a flashlight."

"Yes."

"...My humiliation is complete."

"At least you get to read the signs now."

They looked up at the intersection, marked unhelpfully with some numbers. Something about them jogged Jinx's memory.

"That one's marked five and nineteen... Isn't that the old line five, stop nineteen, before they switched to a color line system?"

"What was the old line five?"

"What, aren't you a native to Jump? It's a line they closed a few years ago to build the new harbor line."

"...I only moved here around three years ago."

"Huh. With how hard you fight to keep the place safe, I figured you must be born here or something. You've been here for shorter than I have." Jinx thought back to the old subway plans; she'd mastered them from necessity when she was younger. "Stop nineteen... that should be close to the old forest terminal near the mountains. You teleported us across half the city, Sunshine."

"At least we're in the city."

"Take us away, oh flashlight of mine. Down that way." Jinx pointed down the old track.

"...Ugh."

Raven walked where she'd indicated, and they proceed in what, at least to Jinx, felt like mutually agreeable silence. Now that she could look at Raven, she marvelled at how she just kept going. She carried Jinx like she weighed nothing, after being in a big fight, after having expended her energy that morning trying to break out of the magic circle, after a night of being blared at by Gizmo's non-music. Now there was a thought…

"Hey, Raven, did you get any sleep last night?"

"...Sure."

"Even with the noise?"

"I achieved a meditative state deep enough to shut out my sensory impressions for several hours. It wasn't ideal for resting or maintaining my balance, but it worked." Then she frowned.

"Wow.”

"...Jinx, what are you thinking about?"

"Just your ridiculous endurance. I'd have collapsed a while back."

"Hm." Raven did not elaborate, and Jinx didn't probe further, instead leaning into the oddly comfortable sensation of being carried. She wasn't used to this kind of contact. Not even the jolts of Raven's feet on the ground disturbed her. The fact that Raven was walking and not floating along was remarkable enough. She must have stretched her control to its limits.

She idly realized there was a hell of a lot she didn't know about Raven. Magic darkness powers, sure. It was a pretty strong theme. But the way those powers felt, their unnatural black radiance and strange voids, her endurance and clear physical strength, her ability to see in the dark, the fact that she never seemed to worry about having enough power, the power of flight, her meditation, even her past. She'd talked about monks. Had she been raised at a monastery? How would being a monk give anyone these kinds of abilities? How had she even been caught up by a summoning circle meant for a demon? How had she known who and what Scath was? Had she studied demons too? There wasn't a lot there that made sense to her.

Jinx felt her mind drifting as she mulled it over, tired after the events of the day, and idly snaked her arm around to put Mumbo's hat in her lap before holding Raven tightly again around the neck, feeling the choker that represented the binding against her forehead. Did she imagine that little intake of breath? Was Raven like her, not used to touch? Raven adjusted her in her arms, making her feel even more…

  
  
  
  
  
  


"Wake up, Jinx."

"Wha?" Jinx blearily opened her eyes, looking up at a red sky above them. They were surrounded by trees. Mumbo's hat lay in the grass next to her. "Wha? Whassis?"

"Sunset. We emerged at an old terminus station like you said, up in the old forest trails. I put you down to regain some strength and let you sleep a little. I'm not sure how long we were down there."

Jinx rubbed her eyes, more than a little embarrassed at having fallen asleep in the first place. "Mumbo robbed the bank around two, we got there about ten minutes later, so... a while, huh. Oh, uh, you can stop glowing now."

Raven's runes stopped glowing. "Ugh, finally. Thanks. Any plan on how we get back?"

Jinx tried to recall: it had been a while since she’d had to think about public transit this far out. "Well, there's a bus that goes back home a ways from here, but we'd have to scoot pretty hard since the last one is at around nine. I think." She opened her HIVE communicator and checked the time. "Yep. Hour and a half, tops. Nice."

"...Can someone in the HIVE pick us up?"

"Nah. Our comms piggyback off the cell network and the reception here is lousy, plus we have nothing like a car. Every time we try having one, my bad luck makes it crash, or explode, or lose all its tires at once in the middle of the road. Gizmo won't even let me race the ones he steals anymore."

"...Is it really that bad for you?"

"I've never been in control of this. I mean, who can control luck, right? Some days I bleed out more than others. And usually, if a situation is bad, it gets worse. Like the bank collapsing, then you not finding the escape holes, us landing in the tunnel, it going dark, and then me immediately spraining my ankle. That's about normal when it catches up with me."

"...I see. Have you ever been taught means of controlling or mitigating it?"

"Other than firing it out, no. Not that it'd work."

"How do you know it won't?"

"Luck, Sunshine. You have it or you don't. Although it seems like when you lose control your power gets pretty bad too, huh?"

"...You could say that. How's your ankle?"

"Let me check - ugh, ew. It's swelling up. Yeah, not walking on this today."

Raven got up from where she was observing the sunset, and sat by her leg. "Let me take a look."

"What are you-" Raven put a finger on Jinx's lip, for once effectively shutting her up, and took off her boot, feeling the ankle tenderly with her fingers and frowning.  "Take off your stockings."

"Hey. Hey now. We haven't even had our first date, girl, slow down."

Raven looked at her evenly. "Really, Jinx? Really now? I promise you have nothing I haven't seen before. We need to check your injury."

"Showing sympathy for your captor, Raven? Aren't you worried you might get written up by some criminal psychologist?"

"...Showing sympathy to someone hurt and in pain isn't exactly a syndrome just because of the circumstances involved. Besides, the condition you’re thinking of is very rare."

Jinx moved awkwardly where she sat. "Well, look away for a minute, would you? Nudity is one thing but undressing in front of someone is personal."

Raven seemed to consider this idea as if it wasn't an excuse Jinx had fired off on the spur of the moment, and nodded. "...I can understand that. Tell me if you need help."

Jinx felt her face heat up and undressed, not without some effort since she couldn't stand up. Her purple and black stockings came off slowly, only to reveal an equally purple and black bruise around her ankle as they came off. She held her stockings in her lap. "Okay, turn around."

Raven looked at Jinx's face, then her eyes travelled down the length of her body, as if this wasn't mortifying enough already. She gingerly took Jinx's ankle in her hand. "I got a chance to regain some of my focus while you slept. It might be enough to help."

"Help with what?"

Raven didn't answer as her hands suddenly became encased in white light. She frowned, as if whatever she was doing now took more concentration than what Jinx had seen her do before. As she touched Jinx's ankle, rather than feeling the expected pain, she felt a sensation of relief. She groaned, and clapped a hand around her mouth; it had sounded more embarrassing than being half-naked in front of a Titan already was. Raven, for her part, hadn't seemed to notice as she passed her hand over the bruise over and over, her fingers moving softly as if they were manipulating invisible threads.

Her eyes fixated on the bruise. It was like she could see threads of pain being dispersed, flesh knitting beneath her skin, as if her senses had become a little sharper. Incredibly, the bruise seemed to be subsiding a little, the colors fading little by little. However, Raven's concentration seemed to be failing her, and the light faded from her hands.

"...Sorry," said Raven. "I need more rest to heal you more than this. It's too risky."

Jinx flexed her ankle, then gingerly stood on it, barefoot in the grass, feeling strangely buoyant, like the dew on her toes was giving her strength. "I mean, it still hurts, but I think I can manage like this and maybe a walking stick or your shoulder. Didn't know you were a healer too, Sunshine. Is there anything you can't do?"

"...Too much."

"Oh come on, what's that supposed to mean? Are you the type who beats herself up over not always having all the answers? Relax, gal, sometimes we just have to live with it. This is fine. It's way better than it was, and that's more than enough."

"When you have my kind of power, the things you have to live with are often bigger than bruised ankles."

Jinx looked at Raven's eyes. She seemed more tired than she'd ever seen her. She put her hands on her shoulders. "Hey, look at me. We're going to get back to base, I'll let you sleep and rest and eat as much as you need, and we'll be just fine. Capiche? You've done real good today."

Raven nodded mutely.

"Okay. Now turn around, I need to get dressed again."

"...Oh come on. What am I going to see now that I haven't already seen?"

"Me, dressing. Scoot."

  
  
  
  
  


Raven had eventually had to carry Jinx for a bit longer, since the road had fallen into disuse and already become cracked by growing tree roots and weathering, and whatever strength Jinx had regained had already left her. Jinx didn't complain, even if she felt a bit useless, but she did manage to guide them down to a half-remembered bus terminal with only a few minutes to spare.

The bus had been mostly empty; a couple of napping hikers took a pair of seats near the middle. The bus driver had looked at Raven's cloak and Jinx's top hat curiously, but said nothing, clearly used to weirdos in the night. Jinx guided Raven to the big bench at the back and lay down bodily in it, resting her legs in Raven's lap, much to her disgust but without serious protest. Raven simply closed her eyes, chanting something under her breath for most of the way, one hand resting on Jinx's legs.

Jinx put her hands behind her head, her eyes taking in Raven's face. Now she had to add healing powers to the grab-bag of abilities the girl had. She'd always known she was probably the biggest powerhouse of the team along with Starfire, but the sheer range of her abilities probably made her their most flexible member too. It was no wonder everyone felt safer to crawl out from under their rock with her gone. She was practically a one-girl team, and she doubted they'd even scratched the surface of what she was capable of. If they'd had someone like her in the HIVE, maybe... well, no use crying now, that ship had sailed. 

Her eyes travelled down to the shining metal disc on Raven's new choker, a thing which she'd decided on at the spur of the moment, but which now was filling her head with complicated thoughts she wasn't sure she wanted. She resolved to push it out and deal with it later. There was going to be a lot to talk about once they got back. A few minutes later, her HIVE communicator started vibrating. She clicked it open as a backlog of messages began loading.

Mo' Giz  
  
Hey u OK  
  
Hey where u at snot for brainz  
  
Come on pick up  
  
Were taking ur share if ur not here soon  
  
U and R are on TV  
  


Jinx scrolled through dozens of the messages, each one increasingly more frustrated and insulting. Gizmo was free to write entire novels on his comm whenever he felt like it, apparently. She got to the end and wrote a quick message to placate him.

Mo' Giz  
  
Hey  
  
Hey  
  
Cmon  
  
Did u leave me in ur will  
  
Am fine, with gloomy. On bus back to town, bthere in 1 hour. Dont call. Long story. CU  
  


The text-speak was, of course, not just shorthand. It was a way to code messages in case of snooping. It did mean they had to keep it up even when texting plain messages, but what could you really do? Jinx pulled Mumbo's hat over her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. It had been a day and a half. Then she grinned as wide as she could. They'd been on TV, huh? That was bound to be good.

  
  
  
  
  


"Welcome back, Boss."

Jinx grinned, limping her way to the living room, Raven walking several paces behind her. "Great to be back, Mammoth. Where are the other brats?"

"Got tired waiting up for you so I tucked them in." He nodded. "Nice hat."

"Thanks. Might as well save the party for tomorrow, this has been a long day and Raven needs some R&R."

Mammoth looked at Raven. Raven looked back.

"Sorry 'bout your friend. She was pretty upset," said Mammoth.

"S'fine," said raven. "She'll get another chance."

Mammoth nodded and ambled off, presumably to his room. Jinx shook her head.

"You know, I've known him for almost half my life, but sometimes I just can't get a read on the guy. Want a little dinner before bed?"

Raven looked the direction Mammoth had gone and shrugged. "...I guess?" She looked back at Jinx. "He seems decent."

"Oh, he's great when he isn't licking the fridge clean of mold."

"...So that's where Starfire's food went when you took over the tower."

Jinx paused, shuddering at the memory. "That stuff was actually meant to be food? Wow. She's got a cast iron stomach too?"

"She has nine stomachs."

Jinx looked at Raven, trying to figure out if it was a joke, but Raven didn't seem to be in the habit of telling any. "Yikes. Well, sit yourself down in the kitchen. I don't know what all we have in the fridge, but I'll find something."

"...You're cooking me dinner."

"Yes?"

"...Why."

"Because you're dead on your feet. Because you helped me out of that tunnel. Because I feel like cooking. I dunno. Just eat." Jinx shrugged, pulling a half-full carton of eggs from the fridge with most of the rest of the shelves being frightfully empty. "Damn, I forgot we don't have more than this. looks like it's grocery day tomorrow. What kind of spices are you into?"

"...The spiciest."

"Oho! No you're not. I've got things that will burn your tongue off."

"Try me."

Jinx looked over her shoulder at Raven who, despite everything, had regained the smirk on her face. "I warned you, Sunshine. Too late to back out now." She quickly put some eggs in a skillet and added the strongest stuff she had, the kind even Mammoth blanched at, and scrambled it in with the eggs before serving it. Raven looked at the dish curiously.

"...Huh. You remembered how I like my eggs."

Jinx didn't know why this comment pleased her, but it did.

Raven sniffed appreciatively and summoned a fork from a nearby drawer. She took her first bite, and…

"...Hm. Decent. Fresh Bhut Jolokia pepper? I haven't had that in a while. We usually only get the South American chili around here."

Jinx stared. "That’s ghost pepper straight out of Manipur. I once made Mammoth cry for an hour with that stuff. How are you not even tearing up?"

Raven snapped her fingers. "I knew he had a soft side."

Jinx tried. Oh, she tried. But her facade cracked quickly, giving way to a hysterical laugh, answered only by Raven's quiet smile. She then dug in herself, appreciating the taste, even though this really wasn't the right dish for it. "Careful, Raven. I'm starting to enjoy your company."

Raven's face fell slightly. "Darn. There goes making you hate me enough to kick me out."

"The fact that you can even say that tells me you never planned that." Jinx's binding to not seek escape would have prevented that.

"...True." Raven's face fell for real, and the reality of their situation kicked in for both of them. Jinx fiddled with the rest of her egg awkwardly, then scarfed it all down in one go. Raven's eggs seemed to have disappeared, too. She placed the plates in the sink, rinsing them off before speaking again.

"Well, I made that weird. My bad. Time for bed."

"...And where do I sleep?"

Jinx slapped her forehead. "Ah, crap! I knew we forgot something. Buckle up, purple girl, guess you're getting my room for the night."

"...And where will you go?"

"My room also, duh. The boys know better than to touch us there."

Raven looked her in the eye. "Both of us in your room? And here you kept calling me forward."

Jinx felt the beginnings of a tiny blush. "Oh, she bites back! Stop the presses! Relax, I'll put out a cot or something. Your honor will be intact."

"...You could just put a cot in the room below, or give me the couch."

"The couch is where eggy boy farts go to die."

Raven visibly blanched at her description.

"And the summoning room is, I mean... it's not designed to be pleasant, and I'm not a hundred percent that it's safe."

"...You want my sleep to be pleasant?"

"You earned it, Sunshine. And no, before you ask, we don't have any other empty rooms cleared. The old HIVE tunnels are full traps and stuff we never got around to disarming except when we needed space, and it's too late to turn on the mine detector and find the gas mask tonight."

"...For once, I really can't tell if you're joking."

Jinx just smiled back. She was chronically incapable of looking innocent.

Raven's eyes widened. "Okay. Your room it is."

Jinx led her into the room, gesturing to the bed. "Alright, have a seat. Pick out some sleepwear from the closet, the bottom drawer stuff is fine."

"...I'll have to meditate before sleeping, ideally."

"Go for it. You know where the shower is, and just put your hero outfit in the hamper. Now where did I put the cot?"

Jinx searched her room as Raven picked out a shirt and shorts. She was still looking by the time the purple-haired sorceress came out wearing them; a white T-shirt from some punk concert Jinx had snuck into when she was even more underage decorated in a wild graffiti design, and simple black shorts, her purple hair glistening from a brief shower. 

"...I'm more used to pyjamas," she said, before floating above the bed, beginning her familiar mantra.

Jinx froze as what she saw hit her. Raven was wearing her clothes. Her shirt, and her shorts, and her choker which looked absolutely adorable on her, topped off by the red gem still perched on her forehead. In her room. Above her bed. It affected her in ways she wasn't mentally prepared for. A tiny spark shot from her hair, pushing Mumbo's hat off her head and making a book fall from a shelf.

As if on cue, Raven stopped chanting and opened one eye. "Is something wrong?"

"No! No, everything's fine, just can't find this dumb... thing. Better look some more!" Jinx retreated from the room, closing the door behind her, and stared at the wall from across her. She didn't even see the dull metallic yellow of the corridor. All she saw was Raven, in her old discarded clothes, her face framed by her hair and the black choker. She didn't really know why this affected her so much.

"What the hell am I even thinking about? Get yourself together, girl."

The wall didn't answer her, either.

She shook her head and concentrated on her search. She didn't find a cot, but she did find a futon tucked away in a side closet. Unrolling it, she discovered it hadn't been washed since... well, she wasn't sure if it ever had been. Nothing else sprang to mind, and she was getting tired, so she put it under her arm anyway and entered her room again, this time preparing herself.

"Bad news, Sunshine, we only have this disgusting old-" her words caught in her throat. Raven had apparently drifted down towards her bed, her legs still crossed, and then simply fallen gently over into a sound sleep, her head barely resting on the pillow.

In Jinx's bed.

Jinx looked at the futon, stained with who knew what, and back to her bed. Her bed, with Raven sleeping in it. She dropped the futon.

"Fine. Guess this is how we do this." She took a little time preparing, putting on her own sleepwear, unbinding her hair, and gently removing her choker with its lucky coin attached, brushing her teeth, and generally delaying the inevitable as much as she could. Her comm showed the time had just passed midnight, and she sighed.

She ambled back into the room, idly picking up Mumbo's hat from where it had fallen and finding a nice spot for it on her bookshelf. She picked up the fallen book, too. It was a short treatise on thaumaturgy, the magical discipline for performing miracles - affecting true and permanent change in the world and oneself - and defending oneself from demons. Nothing from it had worked for her.

She looked over at Raven, who was apparently a restless sleeper, having untangled her legs only to wrap them in the sheets. Maybe she did need a bit of protection. She put the book on her nightstand, turned off the light, and lay down with her back to her unplanned bunkmate as far towards the edge as she could fit, Raven’s restless movements keeping her alert. Sleep was a long time coming.

  
  
  
  
  


Jinx started awake. At some point, she had turned around in her sleep to face Raven, their legs tangling together. Her ankle throbbed from the contact, giving the clue to what had woken her. Raven was murmuring softly, a tiny glow of light escaping her closed eyelids. Jinx looked up to check on the time and exhaled softly.

Her entire room seemed... contorted. As if she were looking at it through a series of funhouse mirrors. Furniture wobbled and curved precariously, but didn't topple over. The walls seemed shorter, longer, thinner or wider depending on how she squinted, changing in the corner of her vision. It was as if space itself was warping gently. She wasn't sure she was actually awake until Raven murmured again, and the entire room warped into fresh shapes that made her dizzy to look at them.

The HIVE communicator on the nightstand showed 3:13 AM, barely legible in its contorted state. Of course it had to say thirteen. Just her luck.

Jinx barely dared to breathe. Raven had said she'd need to meditate before sleeping, but had nodded off. Was this the result? Or was this just a nightly thing with her? How could any sorcerer be so potent, so dangerously powerful, that they could warp the fabric of reality in their sleep? Just who was she really sleeping next to?

Jinx gently raised her hand towards Raven's face.

"Hey, Raven. Come on. Play nice. Wake up."

Raven's soft murmur became a terrible, deep rumbling, deeper than any human body should have been able to make. Jinx's hand froze, her spine seized by the thrill of terror, as Raven seemed to sniff her fingers like a curious predator. After some time, apparently satisfied, the growling girl moved her face into the hand, making Jinx's breath catch. The sensation was intoxicating.

The glow from her eyes stopped. Jinx glanced up again. The room was back to normal.

It was 4 by the time she was calm enough to fall asleep again. She was surprised she even wanted to. She certainly didn't dare remove her hand from where it rested against Raven's neck, although she couldn't articulate why.


	6. All the Questions

Jinx woke up with her head on something warm. She slowly blinked her eyes.

"Good morning," said Raven.

Jinx's eyes widened and she quickly moved her head in sleepy panic, hitting something hard in the process. "Ow!"

"...Ow."

"Oh. Whoops. Sorry." Memories of the night before filtered into her head, half-remembered and dreamlike. A part of her wanted to run far away, and the rest of her wanted to see more. She rubbed her head. "Did I hit you bad?"

"Just my jaw."

"Want me to kiss it better?" When in doubt, seize the initiative.

"...It's been less than one minute since you woke up and you're already back on your bullshit."

Jinx giggled at Raven's potty mouth. "No time's a bad time for my bullshit." Jinx took stock of the situation. Sure enough, her legs were entwined with Raven's. Her head had been resting on Raven's chest. For her part, Raven seemed mostly unperturbed. Jinx poked her. "You're a decent pillow, you know that?"

"...And another crack about my chest. What a way to start the day."

"You're the one who decided to fall asleep in my bed, Rae. You're lucky I decided to share instead of kicking you out. I'm the jealous type." Jinx felt her face - in fact, her entire body - heat up as the situation sank in, but found she didn't mind. In fact, she'd already made her first decision of the day.

"I was... more tired than I thought." Raven's slight blush and evasive eyes made Jinx smile. Initiative, seized. She unwrapped herself from Raven - only a little reluctantly - and got up to get herself ready.

"Well, let's go face the day. I think the boys are going to want a party."

"A... party?"

"The HIVE pulled a real, legit heist from under the noses of the Titans after a long dry spell. Great time for a celebration!"

"...The words 'legit' and 'heist' don't belong together."

"They do in these parts. Hm. I guess you don't have a spare outfit right now, so just pick whatever you like from the closet."

"I'll be fine so long as I have my cloak."

"Cool with me." Jinx ran her fingers through her hair, expelling some of her magic in a familiar little ritual as Raven watched with some interest. Perfect prongs as always. Everyone thought of them as horns, or possibly a horseshoe shape, but to her they’d always be her attempt at a lotus. She checked herself in the mirror - a cheap plastic one, since regular mirrors tended to not last around her - and winked. She was looking nice and ready.

Yesterday, she'd learned the full extent of how much she didn't know about the sassy girl sharing her bed. Some people would choose to stay away, others would give in to their base instinct to run as quick as they could and never look back, but neither of those was Jinx's style. Today, she was going to launch Operation Get To Know Raven. 

  
  
  
  
  


The first surprise of the day still turned out to be the boys, sitting listlessly on the filthy living room couch, looking weirdly subdued in front of the TV. Jinx looked at what they were watching. It looked like news footage.

"Morning, boys. Why the long faces? I thought you'd be celebrating." She limped over and leaned on the back of the couch.

"Sup," said Gizmo, not even turning around. After the reams of almost-concern on the comm the night before, Gizmo wasn't about to start looking emotional now. Jinx might not be able to read Mammoth, but Gizmo was a very short novel.

"No, seriously, what's up?"

"Did you catch any of the news, Boss?" Billy was just by his lonesome today, an unusual situation.

"Nope."

Gizmo increased the volume.

"-And on our continuing top story: Raven, hero or menace?"

Jinx's eyes fixated on the screen instantly.

"Despite official statements from Robin, leader of the Teen Titans, speculation has run rampant about the true nature of Raven, their most mysterious member, in the wake of a confrontation with her now seemingly former team."

Robin's face filled the screen. The masked teen spoke directly to the camera. "It's apparent to us, for reasons we cannot yet make public, that Raven is not in full control of her actions and may be under some kind of mental control by the criminal gang known as the HIVE. Until further notice, we are assuming that she is aiding the criminals against her will and is to be considered a hostage. If you have any information regarding her whereabouts, please direct them to the police commissioner's office as soon as possible. Titans, out."

"Well, he's not wrong," Raven said, having silently floated from Jinx's room, fully covered in her cloak. 

"Whoah, way to give me a heart attack! We should put a bell on you, darlin'," said Billy.

"...Call me that again. I dare you."

He didn't dare, looking back at the screen instead.

Gizmo snorted. "Titans out? Who says stuff like that? What a nerd."

"...Also not wrong," said Raven. Jinx grinned. Seeing how Raven acted when it involved her friends was fun. She noted that she'd been treating Jinx about the same way, too, which unaccountably made her feel a little happier.

The footage changed to an incredible shot of Starfire impacting on Raven's shield, and Jinx's breath caught in her throat. She was there at Raven's back. Starfire's flaming fists had been closer than she'd even realized. Where had the camera crews even been?

"The darkest Titan, seen here clashing with fellow team member Starfire, has always been a source of mystery. Her identity, motivations and even full range of powers are unknown, and she has always been famously camera shy. Further adding fuel to the fire is her new association with the criminal known only as Jinx."

The camera cut to several shots of her and Jinx together. Raven enveloping her in her cloak. Raven protecting her. Her telling Raven to launch her in the car to grab Mumbo's hat, even just a straight up shot of her posing and winking with the hat by herself - and dang she looked good, in her own opinion. The shots made them look like they were familiar with each other. Very, very familiar.

"For her part, Jinx has become no less a cypher than her apparent new partner in crime, seen here briefly teaming up with the Teen Titans to defeat The Amazing Mumbo. If Raven has not gone over to the wrong side of the law, then has the infamous thief Jinx decided to form her own superhero team?"

"What? Bullshit," said Jinx. This was not how they'd wanted this to go.

"Fuelling the speculation are the actions of one of the more recent HIVE Five team members, Billy Numerous, who was spotted helping civilians escape the Jump City Central Bank building before it collapsed." Several billies entered the screen, dumping bound and gagged security guards and bank staff outside like so many sacks of potatoes.

"It just ain't right," said Billy. "We just don't want to be no killers, and the news twists it to make us out to be the city's new Titans. It ain't right." Gizmo nodded glumly.

"...That's what the news cycle does," said Raven.

"It doesn't make any stinkin' sense," said Gizmo. "We pull off our biggest heist in a year and not only is Raven and Jinx all the news talks about, they keep sayin' pit-sniffing nonsense like how maybe Raven was always a bad guy or we're going all hero. How can they turn on her so fast?"

"...Again. That's what the news does," shrugged Raven. "We have an unofficial rule in the tower. No news, no awards. We never tune in to anything about us, and we never save newspaper clippings or anything like that. It's never remotely relevant to our lives, so why bother? Only Robin handles public relations for us and keeps tabs on what they’re saying, just in case."

Jinx looked from the screen to Raven's face, obscured under the hood. "And here I thought heroes thrived on publicity."

"Since... when, exactly?"

"Uh..." Jinx thought about it, but couldn't come up with a good answer.

"The Academy," said Gizmo. "They taught us about heroes havin' big egos in the Academy."

"...And you believed them? Your teachers were villains training you to be their mercenaries. They probably just told you whatever made you most willing to fight us."

"We know that," said Jinx. "That place didn't hand out charity. But that one always seemed true to me. Although thinking about it, we really didn't find much of anything in the Tower that one time, did we?"

"Well," said Raven, now indicating Jinx on the screen. "Now you know what it's really like to be on the receiving end of the camera. Enjoy."

The TV chose that moment to supply some incredible timing. "-And Raven's apparent familiarity with Jinx is clear from how they interact. Some have even speculated that what we're seeing is teenage love!" Embarrassing cartoon hearts filled the screen, framing some shots of the two of them talking after taking down Light, or in front of the Bank. It moved on to speculate on some kind of love triangle between them and Starfire. Mammoth, Gizmo and Billy laughed.

"Aww, that's kinda cute," said Jinx. "They're shipping us, Sunshine!"

"...Just end me now," sighed Raven. Jinx grinned a little. No wonder the Titan was so camera shy.

"Shipping?" asked Mammoth.

"Tell you when you grow older, big guy," said Jinx. Mammoth shrugged, apparently accepting this out of hand. Raven looked curiously between them.

"Anyway, yeah, boss," said Gizmo, apparently feeling a little awkward after that interlude. "This was supposed to be our big return, but the news ran away from us. They've totally forgotten we even robbed a stinkin' bank."

"Then we'll just have to do something else," said Jinx, now determined. "Dig out some of the old plans later, Gizmo. We gotta make sure they get the message this time."

Billy, Gizmo and Mammoth looked at her, all of them smiling faintly again.

"That's why you're the boss," supplied Mammoth, holding up a fist for Jinx to bump. She grinned right back.

"...And this is all why the Titans and the Justice League handle their own public relations," said Raven, clearly choosing not to comment on them openly planning more crimes. "I bet Robin isn't feeling too happy. Is there anything else on?"

Gizmo switched the channel several times. Each time was just a variation of Raven's face and fight from the day before. "Nope."

He stopped surfing the channels, and the TV showed several faces framed all next to each other. "With us here tonight are several experts-"

"Crud," said Gizmo. "They never have any good experts on these things."

Raven recognized one of the faces. "Oh, joy. They got General Eiling on again."

"I hate that guy," said Jinx venomously. "He really just wants to collar all metas and get a medal for doing it in the name of freedom. Slaving imperialist prick."

Raven looked at her, even her face the very definition of deadpan. "Really. Collar them. To enslave them. You don't say."

Jinx's eyes went a little wider. Well, shit. Raven kind of had her number there, didn't she? She couldn't come up with a comeback, feeling a strange sting in her chest at being compared to Eiling and having it be fair, and just opted to ignore Raven.

The reporter on the TV addressed the General. "General Eiling, your thoughts."

"Thank you. As I've often said, these so-called heroes are out of control! Even if Raven's about-face is some form of mind control, it's obvious that the fact that heroes can be controlled by villains at all puts the public at large at risk! Especially when it comes to heroes about whom so little is truly known. What do we know about this Raven, anyway? How can we even know she is worthy of our trust?"

"Good question. Mister Jimmy Olsen, reporter for the daily planet and known superhero enthusiast, what is known about the mysterious Raven?"

"Please, call me Jimmy," said Olsen.

Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Why is this guy wearing a dress?"

"Beast Boy tells me he just does that sometimes." Raven shrugged. "Olsen is friends with Superman, but I don't know how BB knows Olsen. Beast Boy's been doing the hero thing longer than any of us except Robin."

Beast Boy had a lot of experience? Jinx had never heard of him before the Titans. Odd.

Jimmy spoke at some length. "Raven is one of the heroes about which very little is known, as it happens. She is famously camera shy and curt, is known for her dry and acerbic wit and seems to prefer seclusion, known to at most occasionally attend amateur beat poetry nights at a few select clubs. It is unknown what, if any, relationship those traits have with her powers, about which nearly nothing is known - although some colleagues have assured me that they are magical in nature, so that is perhaps not surprising, since most magicians tend to keep their secrets close to their chest. However, her record working with the Teen Titans is mostly exemplary."

The reporter interjected. "So it's hard to predict what she can do, or what may affect her?"

Jimmy seemed to be thrown off balance. "Well, yes. Not even the Justice League, which has graciously provided me with an information package courtesy of the Martian Manhunter, has much of a file on her."

Gizmo whistled between his undeveloped teeth. "Whoah, you're a cypher to the Justice League?"

Raven shook her head ever so slightly. "Not as much as I’d like."

The reporter introduced another one of the talking heads. "Doctor Joan Leland, criminal psychologist working at Gotham's Arkham Asylum, what is your assessment?"

The doctor nodded. "It is entirely possible for anyone to be twisted to such an extreme that they turn to a life of crime. Indeed, mere continued association with the criminally disturbed has been known to affect even my colleagues at Arkham. Raven is known for a taste for the intellectual and a controlled, if acerbic, manner, but even so it is not out of the realm of possibility that something has pushed her towards the criminal element; indeed, intellectual people drawn to what can be called darker topics tend to be at particular risk, as was the case with my former colleagues, Doctors Crane and Quinnzel. It would be best to await further evidence, however-"

Eiling interrupted, his frame in the corner expanding to fill half the screen as he spoke. "What further evidence do we need? We need to push for stricter controls and tighter regulation of these vigilante groups based on the risk alone."

"We are still a free country, General," the doctor answered dryly.

Eiling grunted mockingly. "Safety requires compromise, doctor. Any true patriotic hero would be glad to accept that."

The reporter interrupted them. "So what do we do about Raven, everyone? Jimmy?"

"What can we do? She's a total mystery. She also doesn't have a lot of fans to vouch for her, if I have to be honest, aside from some brave and dedicated souls in Jump City and one official statement from Wonder Woman vouching for her character. There's also some reports that she might have gone a bit far in resolving some disputes before, and having to be reined in by the rest of her team, but mostly we see nothing but a sterling record of defending Jump City against a variety of threats. We have very little to go on beyond that."

"Doctor Leland, your assessment?"

"Mind control is an outrageous possibility in a world where the simplest explanation most often suffices: that she is acting of her own free will. Her known attitudes and interest do line up with traits we have observed in those who turn to a life of crime, certainly. And since nearly nothing else solid is known about her motives or character, that would be the assessment I would be forced to make without further information, even though it contradicts what little we know of her history."

"Thank you. General Eiling?"

"We've let an unknown cypher patrol the streets of an American city at night with barely a voice of protest. Some kind of witch of unknown power and potential, whose motivations are a complete mystery. Can we be sure she was ever a hero at all? Can even the Titans say that with absolute certainty? I think not. I am all for regulating heroes in general, but Raven is an extreme case of how we overextend our trust in vigilantes."

"Thank you, General. This has been-"

Gizmo groaned and shut the TV off. "See? All the news in Jump has been stuff like that. Not even the superhero fanboy is standing up for Raven."

"...Why do you care if someone stands up for me?" asked Raven.

"You helped us out," the boy replied, as it this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Metas stick together."

Raven said nothing, and her face betrayed nothing either.

Jinx glanced over to Raven. "Look at it this way, Sunshine. You're big local news. That means the locals care about what happens to you. Screw what the news are actually saying."

"...I had not thought of it like that."

"So!" said Jinx, breaking the mood. "Who wants to play Ask The Titan All The Questions?"

"...Wha?" Raven was a little taken aback.

"Ooh! We doin' this now?" asked Gizmo.

"Dang right we are. Raven, I command you to answer our questions truthfully."

The angry red runes flared brightly across the room, startling Billy into splitting in three. Raven gave her a betrayed look. "...Metas stick together, huh?"

"Just think of it as us getting to know each other," said Jinx, grinning wide.

  
  
  
  
  


An hour later, the HIVE was learning that Raven had a superb command of the truth.

"How can you not know where the security systems in the Tower are controlled from? What kinda stinkin' team are you?" shouted Gizmo. He'd spent most of the hour trying to probe her for specifics on the Titans' defenses with no luck.

"The kind that doesn't stick its nose in each others' business," answered Raven curtly. "We deliberately minimize who has total access to the Tower's security just in case a situation like this crops up. I can barely believe Robin's paranoia is actually paying off."

"Alright Gizmo, quit hoggin' her, you've had y'all's fun." "Yeah! Billy here wants to ask some questions!"

Gizmo swept his tiny arm at Raven. "Go right ahead, snot-brains."

"Alright! Uh." "Come on, you had a question." "I thought you had a question!" "Why would I have a question?" "You asked!" "Okay, I got one. What's the toughest fight you've been involved in?"

"Domestic disturbance," Raven answered immediately. Her answer cast a dark shadow across the room's mood, and Jinx thought she could see a tiny reddish tint in her eyes for just a moment.

"Uh." Billy looked at Billy and Billy. "Wow, that got dark fast. I thought y’all were gonna say some villain."

"...Were you hoping you'd rank high on my list?"

Jinx shrugged. "Well, I mean, now that you've brought us up..."

"You're not even close."

Jinx glared at her. "Aw, come on! We're the only ones who ever kicked you out of your tower!"

"There have been other breaches since. But if it's any consolation, As far as villains go, you're pretty high up the Titans' personal rogue's gallery."

"Ooh! You've fought other villains then? Who was it? Lex Luthor? Gorilla Grodd? Batman?"

"I... What do you mean, Batman? He's not a villain."

"Sure he is. He terrorizes Gotham, keeps criminals in line like a boss, clearly has a ton of illicit funding behind him, he's totally one of the villains."

"...Jinx. Batman is a founding member of the Justice League."

"That's what They want you to think."

"Who's this 'They' you keep bringing up? Have you been listening to the Riddler? Look, Batman is not a villain. Trust me. He's focused, he's scary, he's not on good or friendly terms with a lot of other heroes including Robin, but he's not one of the bad guys. I've met him. His butler could tell you some stories."

Mammoth cut in. "Batman has a butler?"

"And he serves excellent bat-tea."

Mammoth nodded. "Oh. Makes sense."

Jinx shook her head. "Okay, okay, that's... let's shelve that for now. What the heck. Seriously now."

Raven smiled ever so slightly. "I doubt any of the ones you named would be harder for me than any thief, however."

Gizmo snorted. "Why is some rando thief harder to fight than frickin' Batman?"

Raven frowned. "...For me, fighting isn't a matter of not having enough power. It's about holding that power back. Fighting someone like Slade or Johnny Rancid is easy, because they're just out for themselves and have so many resources and technology behind them that they could change the world for the better if they really wanted to, but simply choose not to. Fighting them isn't even a choice, it's so automatic, and doesn't provoke much emotion in me. But..."

The shadows in the room seemed to darken.

"When I stop a desperate thief, out to pay bills or just have enough for themselves or family to eat, what have I really done? Have I achieved justice? Or have I just terrorized a citizen who's down on their luck, who isn't going to get the help they need in a jail cell? Those moments aren't as easy or simple for me as they are for someone like Robin, and in those moments, my control isn't as strong."

"And that results in stuff like yesterday?" asked Jinx.

Raven just nodded, and Jinx almost wanted to hug the girl. And hugs weren't even a thing for her. It didn’t help that what Raven was saying was hitting too close to home for her.

Billy shivered. "Wow this got dark. And is it just me or did it get real dark in here too?"

Raven glanced up. "What? Oh. Sorry." The lights undimmed, returning the room to its bright yellow-dominant color.

"...Uh," Gizmo started. "Okay, I know you're gloomy, but can you leave the lights alone? Those take a lot of work to maintain."

"It won't happen again."

"It better sock-sniffin' not. Okay, different track. Who's the strongest hero you could beat, now that you're working for us?"

Raven took a moment to think about this. "Probably Superman."

"Get outta here," said Jinx. "No way."

"I am serious. The Justice League has a tactical plan for me. I don't know all the details, but Superman is not one of the heroes they list as capable of defeating me in an emergency."

"That's... I mean... where do I even begin with that statement? Why would the League even have a plan to take you down?"

"...Batman has plans for everyone."

"And you still insist he's a hero? I think They've gotten to you."

Raven's eyes narrowed at her. "You're doing that on purpose. I can tell."

Billy, of all people, stopped the brewing back-and-forth. "Okay, time for the main event now. let's find out who the Titans really are! Raven, what's your real name?"

"...Raven."

"Nah, I mean your full name, sweetums."

"Raven." She glared. "Don't call me that again."

"What kinda dang name has no family to go with it?"

"Mine."

Jinx cut in. "Okay, different tack. What is Robin's true identity?"

"Robin."

"Oh come on," said Billy. "Are you sure this bindin' thing is even working, boss?"

"Of course it is," said Jinx, totally confident. "I can order Raven to dance a little jig for us and she'll do it."

"...Please don't."

Jinx shrugged. "Not in front of the boys, I'm not that cruel."

"...You'd prefer a private show?"

Jinx just grinned.

Billy interjected again, blushing like a tomato dressed in red. "Robin's identity can't just be Robin. That's his alter ego."

"He is Robin," said Raven, looking almost smug. “I can absolutely guarantee that’s his identity.”

"Okayyy, guess that's not actually going to work," said Jinx. "Fine then, moving on to Cyborg. What's his name?"

"Victor Stone."

Jinx threw up her hands and Gizmo laughed. "Hah! Now she's just telling us the name your boyfriend used to fool us in the HIVE academy! I tell you, she's not giving us the truth!"

"Don't remind me," said Jinx. "He fooled all of us. I thought he really was into me right before the end, too. Last time I take a villain's dating advice and attach myself to the strongest guy around."

"...He was into you for a bit," supplied Raven.

Jinx raised an eyebrow at her. "What? No he wasn't. Didn't he just want to take us down?"

"Cyborg admitted to me once that he seriously considered quitting the Titans to stay in the HIVE. The Academy gave him a sense of the normalcy he'd lost when he became... well, Cyborg. He wished he could have done more for you all. And breaking up with you was tougher on him than he liked to let on."

"Holy moly," said Gizmo. "Hey boss, maybe you still got a chance at his big boo-"

Jinx's hex bolt shot the goggles off Gizmo's shiny forehead. He still grinned. "Hah! You still like him!"

"Yeah, because he was the best of all the boys there," Jinx shot back. She hoped her flush would be interpreted as anger, because she wasn't lying. Still, some of the familiar pang of betrayal was... lessened. 'Stone' had been nice, underneath the big, muscly exterior. Not that she hadn’t imagined herself enveloped in those arms a few times, of course.

Mammoth stepped in. "What's Starfire's real name?"

"Koriand’r."

Jinx looked at Raven. "Coriander? What, like the spice?"

"Koriand’r," corrected Raven, carefully enunciating the tiny difference. "A lot of Tamaran names are like that, actually. It's not even close to the weirdest thing about her. Her English name is just a literal translation from her native language.”

Gizmo laughed mockingly. "Great question, big guy. Ask the alien's real name, like that's gonna be useful to us."

Mammoth shrugged. "She seems nice."

"Okay, Raven," said Gizmo. "Beast Boy's name. What is it."

"Garfield Logan."

Gizmo's eyes bugged out, and he laughed so hard he collapsed out of the chair. Jinx tried to hold back her smile and failed, and Billy guffawed. 

Mammoth looked at Raven, smiling. "I like Garfield. He likes lasagna too."

"Seriously??" gasped Gizmo. "That's his actual name? You're not pullin' the wool over our eyes like with the others to hide his identity?"

"...He's green."

Gizmo smacked his big forehead, still smiling. "Oh, duh. Hah! But I mean, he must have family to protect, right?"

"...No." Raven's eyes didn't meet his.

"Oh." Gizmo clearly felt a little awkward at that.

Jinx gazed at Raven with lidded eyes. "Alright, since we dragged my love life out to laugh at..."

"Oh, no." Raven shook her head, backing away slightly in her seat. "Don't. Please."

"Who have you dated?" the pinkette asked. She was surprised by how much she wanted to hear the answer.

"I briefly dated a dragon named Malchior," Raven said, gritting her teeth.

Silence reigned.

"You... dated a dragon," said Jinx.

"Yes."

"Like, actual wings and fire, or-"

"Yes. I really don't like to talk about it. He was just... using me." The two last words made the room darken again for a moment.

"Oh." Jinx felt a chill creep up her back. Raven’s tone said something she was very familiar with, something more than simple betrayal. She got up, walked over to Raven, snaked her hand under her cloak and found the sorceress' own, holding it tight. "Oh jeez. I'm sorry. Say no more."

"Dang," said Gizmo, his sense of tact as undeveloped as his teeth. "What kinda breakup did you and a dragon have?"

"Gizmo!" said Jinx.

"I sealed him away in a magical tome which I placed under lock and key in my closet, from which he will hopefully not escape for centuries to come." Raven’s eyes menacingly stared down Gizmo's.

The uncomfortable silence crept back up on them.

"Billy won't be addressin' you by any other names in the future, ma'am," supplied Billy. Billy nodded in agreement.

"Good on you, Sunshine," said Jinx seriously, squeezing Raven's hand supportively. To her surprise, she felt Raven squeeze it a little back.

Gizmo got up and left the kitchen, rolling his eyes. "Okay, this got real awkward and girly and I got stuff to do. Smell ya losers later."

Billy and Mammoth excused themselves, or rather left as quickly as they could after sensing the change in the mood, leaving the two magicians alone.

"...Thank you for not pushing that," said Raven, looking away from Jinx. The pink-haired witch felt a pang in her chest.

"I've been there," admitted Jinx reluctantly. "I shouldn't have put you in that position to begin with. I'm so sorry. I promise there won’t be another time. You never have to talk about him again." A familiar pain, one she liked to keep buried, crept back to the surface of her thoughts, and she looked away.

Raven turned to face her. Jinx looked up again shamefully and found Raven staring her directly in the eye, as if searching them for something. "...You couldn't have known," she said.

Jinx smiled, and the moment stretched on. She cleared her throat. "Hey, do you want some tea? I still have some chamomile left."

Raven smiled a tiny smile back and nodded. Jinx walked over to the counter, but Raven simply floated along, not letting go of her hand yet for who knew what reason.

"Making tea with one hand isn't easy, Raven," she said, not actually wanting to let go.

Raven smiled as if she sensed Jinx's thoughts and her eyes glowed. Tea supplies flew from the cupboards, water was drawn, the kettle put on and cups made ready.

"You got this down to an art, huh?"

"...I've had some practice." Raven's small smile made Jinx answer it with her own, and the world felt a little more right again.

  
  
  
  
  


They retreated to Jinx's room, enjoying their tea together before doing their own thing. Jinx, seized by some random whim, opened the book she'd accidentally knocked down the night before, glancing through it as Raven meditated over the bed. Jinx had long ago underlined some thoughts on changing the nature of the self and read over them listlessly. She didn't even know why she was bothering with it, except that it had fallen out on its own. Her magic didn’t work miracles.

Jinx sneaked another glance at Raven. Her outfit underneath the cloak turned out to be basic: just another T-shirt, plain white this time, with a pair of jean shorts - she emphatically refused to use the word 'jorts' - which on Raven were much tighter than on herself. Not that Jinx would be caught dead wearing them. She'd forgotten why she even had them, possibly something left behind from one of the other students when the Academy collapsed. Raven had absolutely refused to consider any pair of pants as an option for some odd reason.

In a real way, the clothes didn't reveal any more or less than Raven's regular clothes did, but somehow Jinx was paying more attention to her body anyway. The Titan seemed to dislike anything that covered her legs in general, aside from her ever-present cloak.

"...You're staring at my butt," said Raven, not even opening her eyes. Jinx wasn't even surprised she could do that at this point.

"Are you sure those things aren't constricting you?" asked Jinx, deflecting.

"They're fine. Comfortable, actually. Just don't make me wear them in public.”

“You already don’t wear pants in public most of the time.”

“...I also usually have my cloak.”

“Have you considered just wearing pants?”

“...Have you?”

Jinx shook her leg at Raven. “What, so you can get into them like you did my stockings?”

“...Forget I asked.” She rolled her eyes as Jinx laughed.

The brief interlude done, Raven resumed her chant, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." What had Raven called it? The Mantra of Zinthos? What was Azarath? Or Metrion? What was a Lens of Azar? Where was she even from? She knew Raven was a completely captive audience, but after the kitchen debacle she found she didn't want to force it out of her. The binding seemed to impose more responsibility on Jinx than she liked. Being a thief was exactly the opposite of having responsibilities.

Jinx still found herself looking at Raven's shorts, her internal temperature rising as she took in the curves of her legs. There was that to work out, too. She involuntarily compared the girl to 'Stone' from the Academy days, now that he'd been brought up again. Totally different people, but there was some similar feeling there anyway. Maybe it really was just that simple. Maybe…

Jinx gave up on the book, not having read a word of it, and moved over to the bed. Raven floated a bit higher, looking briefly down with one eye but not commenting, simply resuming her meditation as Jinx lay down and closed her eyes. Her mind's eye still saw nothing but Raven. 

Oh, yeah. This was becoming a thing.

A thing for her captive and collared prisoner, incapable of resisting her.

Jinx shivered in a way that had nothing to do with cold. This was not something she ever wanted. Period. And she had no one to blame for this situation but herself, either.

The mantra resumed once again, lulling Jinx to rest her eyes. Operation Get To Know Raven just got more complicated, but she still had plans to fall back on. Then she felt Raven gently descend to the bed next to her, touching her ankle.

Jinx lay still, and soon felt the healing power she'd felt before enveloping her ankle again. She moaned a little from the sensation, and opened her eyes. Even as she watched, she saw the bruise fade completely, Raven's face intent on healing her. The glow subsided, and Jinx tested her ankle. It felt like it had never been injured in her life.

"There." Raven nodded, satisfied, and resumed her meditation, this time staying on the bed.

"Why did you do that?" asked Jinx. “I could already walk on it.”

"...I’m supposed to see to your safety."

"Hah. Sure. And it’s not because you're a big secret softy who has to heal every hurt she sees, right?"

Raven blushed and glared, but didn't answer.

Jinx smiled and drifted off into a nice nap.

  
  
  
  
  


For the rest of the day, Raven was like a ghost haunting the HIVE base. Jinx observed her, but couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being intently observed in turn. The purplette said little without being spoken to, and even when Billy and Mammoth returned with celebration takeout to delay the inevitable need for groceries she ate little, shockingly so for someone who’d barely had anything but a few eggs the day before. She didn’t seem to enjoy much of anything, or seek out enjoyment. At most, she complained about the noise from Gizmo’s workshop or Billy being Billy as being distracting from her meditation.

When Jinx found Raven silently observing her after waking from a second short nap after exercise, she’d had enough.

“Do you not have hobbies, Sunshine? Or is watching strange girls sleeping just something you enjoy? Not that I’m not flattered, but it’s weird.”

She shrugged. “...I have nothing to read. You banned me from touching your books. And then you banned me from touching your tea stash without your say-so when you saw how much of it I like to drink.” And that was apparently all she was remotely interested in.

“So that’s a yes on watching girls in their sleep?”

“...No.”

Jinx threw up her hands in frustration. “You can use the exercise equipment if you like. Or just make yourself useful around the place. Play a board game. Anything at all.”

“...You do nap a lot, Jinx. Or at least, you fall asleep easily. Are you really so tired?”

Only when weird girls kept her awake at night, Jinx thought. “Not dispelling my impression of your hobbies here, Sunshine.”

Raven said nothing.

“If it’s so important to you, I’m a light sleeper and I catch rest whenever I can. Old habit.”

“...You’re like a cat that way.”

“Heard that one before, yeah. My eyes give people that impression too, so I’ve already heard every joke you could think about.”

“Or a snake.”

Okay, that was a new one. Raven was lucky she liked snakes. “Am I really the most interesting thing in this base, Raven?”

“...There’s no paint drying around here to watch.”

Jinx grinned just a little at that. “Okay, fine. That was a good one. You do you. Speaking of sleep, you’re getting the bed tonight after I’m done washing the futon.”

“...You’re not making me use it?”

After last night, Jinx was making damn sure Raven got the best rest she could. Plus she still felt guilty about the questioning, but she wasn’t about to admit that. “I’m used to it,” she just said.

“Sleeping rough, you mean?”

Jinx looked Raven in the eye critically. “Yes. Yes I do mean that. Do you have a problem with that?”

“...No.” Raven’s eyes betrayed nothing. No judgment, no shock, no sympathy. Just a quiet determination to take in every scrap of information she could.  

Jinx realized what she was doing. Now that there was no crisis or wound to deal with, she was learning everything she could about her captors, anything that could be useful to her while not betraying more than she needed to. She smiled at Raven, making the Titan arch one eyebrow. Operation Get To Know Raven just got a new angle; Raven was playing the same game she was. It was time to escalate it.

“Tell you what. Let's go shopping for something you can wear when we go pick up the groceries tomorrow. Can't keep you cooped up in here wearing my castoffs forever."

"...Not the mall," said Raven quietly.

"Fine by me.”

Tomorrow was going to be extra special.


	7. A Taste of Home

"I'm surprised you pay for your groceries," said Raven, wearing the jorts in public after all. Jinx had at the very least coaxed her into some of her purple and black leggings to go with them, which Raven had accepted reluctantly.

"Why wouldn't we? You think we want to risk ourselves every time we get a little hungry?"

"...I mean," the girl ventured, "It's you."

"Fair," she grinned, eyeing Raven through her sunglasses. “The boys would kill me though.”

After Jinx had commanded her to put on a disguise and maintain it, Raven had settled on a black hoodie to go with the short jeans and had done... something... to hide the gem on her forehead, which she assured Jinx was still there. Jinx had actually forced her own hair down against its will, leaving it straining against the simple hair bands she'd used. She was wearing something not too different from her normal clothing, picking out a nice dark outfit to match Raven's and a nice dark pair of sunglasses for the eyes. Normally she’d have gone bright to be as different from her usual look as possible, but matching Raven was important to get her current plan to work.

"I'm surprised this even works so well," the disguised Titan muttered. "We barely did anything to conceal ourselves. We didn't even put on any makeup."

"Yeah, well, I find that anyone who does recognize me tends to leave in a hurry anyway. The good thing about having a solid brand is, people don't expect to see you out of it."

"...The entire city is looking for me, though."

"And how many of these good citizens have seen you with your hood down?"

Raven blinked. "...Oh."

"That's the key to disguise, Sunshine. Keep it simple. But if you want to try a little makeup anyway, we can stop for some."

"...I don't usually wear it."

"Oh? Shame. I think you'd look fantastic. Now we really have to try some."

"I wouldn't know where to start."

"I'll show you. It'll be fun!"

They passed the late morning like that, picking out simple outfits for Raven - who turned out to not mind skirts so much, although she stuck to her indigos - and trying unsuccessfully to find foundation in Raven's natural color, not that she’d expected to find any, but it was an excuse to try lots of samples. Jinx was gratified by how embarrassed and sensitive Raven was to her touch as she applied a bit of lipstick and gloss with just a touch of eyeliner, but a full session had to wait.

Jinx selected less frequented streets and smaller stores, both to keep risk of discovery at a minimum and to not make Raven feel uncomfortable, since she seemed to avoid any crowds they came across like the plague on principle. It was on the way back to drop off their purchases at the hideout that Raven made a surprising confession.

"...I... enjoyed this trip," she said.

"That's good. I know I was trying to enjoy myself."

"No, I mean..." Raven considered her words, now wearing a nice dark blouse and a skirt which nicely matched her hair. "I've been shopping before, but usually Starfire is a bit... energetic. And the crowds tend to make me uncomfortable."

"Oh, is she a mall gal?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

Jinx smiled at the image. "You didn't seem like the type, yeah. Tell you what. Let's get all this dropped off, freshen up, and I'll go take you somewhere else nice for a late lunch."

"You really want to risk us being seen together more?"

"Chill a little, Raven. Do you like Indian food?"

"...I do, actually."

"Cool! That's lunch sorted then. My treat."

"...What's this all really about?"

"Just a little thank you from me to you. Or an apology. Whatever works for you. We can just sit down, have a nice chat, relax a bit."

"While you have a captive audience, you mean?"

Jinx looked at her. "If that was all I wanted from you, we could have done that back at the base. I just want to treat you to something nice for... well, the whole questioning thing, and the tunnel thing, and the carrying and healing me thing, and that whole thing."

"Ah, yes. The Thing, with the Thing. Good to clear up exactly where we are at."

"Maybe we can figure that out together over something nice and spicy, the way you like it. I’m thinking kebab."

"...Can we get some andhra cuisine? I hear one of the local restaurants has that."

"Ooh, that's the spirit!"

  
  
  
  
  


Jinx had changed to an outfit which matched Raven's new one again, much to the purplette's embarrassment; an actual pink skirt to match her hair (which Billy immediately teased her enough about to earn several hex bolts), a long-sleeved blouse complementing Raven's new one, and a bit of shiny lip gloss. Jinx knew perfectly well that empathy often relied on simple things like this; looking similar, crossing your legs the same way, and of course eating the same food. It would be the ideal environment for getting Raven to surrender information. Once they were at the restaurant she requested a secluded table, doing everything but outright say they were dating to the waiter to make it clear that this was a private outing, embarrassing Raven further. Shockingly, it had turned out that Raven really knew her way around Indian food.

"Damn, girl. You've been eating like a bird since we got you but you're really packing away the chicken and veggies."

"...This type of food reminds me of home," she said, embarrassed.

"Wait, really? Are you from India too or something?"

"...You're from India?" Jinx had never seen Raven's eyes so wide.

"What, didn't my eyes and complexion give me away?" She pulled down her glasses and batted her eyelids at Raven, deliberately emphasizing her bright pink slitted eyes and grey skin.

"...Uhh..."

Jinx giggled, letting Raven off easy. "I'm kidding. I go way back. I was born in a backwater town in northern India. I've really been American for longer, but some things stuck. What about you?"

"...I'm from a place called Azarath."

Score. Nothing beat the old game of tit for tat. "Where on Earth is that?"

"It's not."

"...Wait, hold up. You're not from Earth? Are you an alien?"

"No."

Jinx bit into a samosa and narrowed her eyes. "Am I going to have to drag this one out of you one question at a time, girl?"

Raven smiled a little. "...This will take some explaining." 

"We're not in a hurry."

It took Raven some time to gather her thoughts.

"Centuries ago,” she began, “though we don't know exactly when, a woman calling herself Azar gathered mystics and sages on Earth and formed a mystic society which today we call the Temple of Azar. They were from all over the planet, though many of them were Hindu mystics. They all brought their wisdom with them, and in the case of the Hindu ancestors they also brought their cuisine. That's why it reminds me of Azarath."

"Oh! So that gem on your forehead is derived from Hindu tradition after all?"

"Somewhat, though Azarath's tradition has diverged far enough that I wouldn't call them the same thing, just distantly related. Regardless. Azar gathered together the mystics and brought them to a secluded dimension we call Azarath, floating freely separate from Earth and its worldly concerns, and founded her Temple there, where it has been ever since, allowing the monks to study and attain enlightenment in peace and privacy. Aside from the very occasional contact from Earth by advanced enough mystics, it has remained secluded." She smiled a little. "One of those latecomer mystics brought chili with him, which I am personally grateful for."

She paused, considering her words before starting again. Jinx had completely forgotten their surroundings, listening intently. She hadn’t even known Raven could speak so much without imploding or something.

"To describe Azarath... there is almost no one there who does not know some magic. Many of the common monks are as powerful as Earth's mighty sorcerers, and yet the simplest meditations and mastery of the self is more highly prized. To hear hundreds of voices chant the Mantra of Zinthos together to achieve a common goal is indescribable. It is a place of power in perfect serenity." Raven's eyes were closed, as if she were remembering it.

Jinx took a sip of water and sorted through all this new information to make sense of it, not dwelling too hard on the notion of an entire dimension of Ravens. "So... you're from a weird magical monk dimension."

Raven sighed at this summary. "...Yes."

"Trippy. So what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

"...Does absolutely everything you say have to sound vaguely suggestive?"

"Only to people I like. Do go on."

"...Right. Well. The mystics of Azar have many traditions and ways to attain enlightenment, including magical ones. One of them involves summoning forth the inner darkness of their own being and ritually casting it out of Azarath via a special portal, not dissimilar to Goetic tradition, which is how I recognized it on your floor." Raven hesitated, clearly wondering how she should proceed in between more bites of her food. "When I was thirteen years old, I cast myself into that portal and left Azarath forever."

Jinx halted with food halfway to her mouth. "Wait, hold on. What do you mean forever?"

"Azarath does not allow evil entry once it has left the dimension. It was a one-way trip for me. I can never fully go back."

"Holy cow. That's terrible! You’re not evil!”

"...That's a matter of opinion. And the only opinion that matters in this case is that of Azarath's portal."

Jinx's heart went out to the girl. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. It was my choice, and I don't regret it."

"Don't you have parents? Family? Anyone who'd miss you?"

"...I do miss my mother. But when we truly need to, we can still communicate with each other in dreams or visions. She understands."

Jinx shook her head. "That's still messed up."

Raven didn't say anything, opting instead to eat for a bit before her next question. "Do you have any family?"

Ah, time for tat. "No. Not anymore. The old HIVE alumni are the closest thing now."

"Like me and the Titans. It's not so different."

Jinx shrugged. "Maybe not, although most of the HIVE kids wouldn’t eat at the same table these days. Most of us just didn't like each other after the competitive environment at the Academy had pushed us all against each other." Something Jinx found she was still a little bitter over, surprisingly. "At least you can talk with your mother sometimes."

"Arella was born on Earth, so her connection is stronger than most in Azar's temple. That is how we can reach each other."

"Wow, is she like hundreds of years old or something? I thought the mystics were brought there centuries ago."

"No. She's thirty-two."

Jinx did the math in her head. "Uh. Wow. Hang on. How old are you?"

"Sixteen. Why?"

"She had you when she was your age?"

"...That's a long story of its own. But yes."

Jinx didn't know Raven's mother, but her heart went out to her anyway too. "And your name is actually just Raven? You really weren't kidding? It's not just an alias or something? Americans have last names, you know."

"My name on Azarath was always Raven. I suppose on Earth I would be Raven Roth, I'd have to double check my passport. I've also used the alias Rachel before."

"Girl, you do not look like a Rachel."

"...Ugh, I know. My mother changed her name on Azarath too. She was born Angela Roth, but goes by Arella now."

Jinx idly moved a bit of food around on her plate, more interested in the conversation than the taste of a home she barely knew. "So back where we were... if Azarath is so closed off, how did a sixteen year old girl surviving teenage pregnancy end up in a magic monk dimension?"

"It's... I don't really talk about it much."

"Hey, that's okay Raven." Jinx reached out her hand, beckoning Raven to take hers, and to her surprise the sorceress did. It had become a familiar gesture for them. "I don't like talking about what happened to my family. It’s not a happy story either.”

"Really?"

Jinx looked down at the table as she talked, taking in the smell around her. "My mom tried to escape her home village a few years after I was born. She was pretty young when she had me, too, and I’m pretty sure she was married off because she was having me. And not married to my real dad, at that. At first I was considered a blessed kid thanks to… well, the whole pink thing, for one. But that didn’t last.”

Jinx found herself softly squeezing Raven’s hand.

“Just before we had to flee, her husband died, although reading between the lines he probably died in an accident and she was making me feel better about it. I'm bad luck for everyone around me, see. And as far as I know, the villagers finally figured that out too, and decided to rid their village of evil. They claimed I was actually the spawn of some Raksha or something and he wasn't really my father, so I'd killed him because of that.”

"That's terrible. Your powers are just part of you, they don't make you evil." Raven's eyes couldn't quite meet hers.

"What was it you said? It's a matter of opinion? Their opinion held a lot of weight, turns out, delivered by heavy stones. Anyway, we somehow made it most of the way here, practically as refugees, but... she didn't make it the whole way. All it takes is one accident involving some smugglers and the coast guard, and suddenly you've got a fresh orphan washing up by herself on the shore of San Francisco, not speaking even a word of English."

Jinx was saying way more than she'd planned. More than she'd ever opened herself up about. But the way Raven squeezed her hand supportively just made her want to tell her everything. She’d fallen into her own empathy trap and was happily digging herself deeper.

"Anyway, I had to survive somehow and it turned out I was really good at stealing enough to eat. You know the type. And I was real good at it. Most of the kids I hung with weren't that lucky, and hanging around me didn't help them, so I usually worked alone, or sometimes with Mammoth. I met him and his sister on the streets there." She batted her eyes at Raven, suddenly self-conscious, realizing just how much of herself she was sharing. "When you said what you said about desperate thieves... I was that thief for a long time. It feels good to know some heroes understand that a little bit, actually."

Raven didn't say anything, but she nodded. Jinx had all her attention.

"I always got away from the authorities, too. It wasn't until the HIVE talent scouts picked me up that I had any place to go back to, and you kind of know the rest. I still don't even have legal immigration papers, so it's not like I could just walk out and do something else with my life." She wasn't even sure why she was bringing it up. She'd never considered the idea worth her time before.

Raven smiled sadly. "I only got my papers last year, but somehow I don't think anyone is hiring girls with grey skin and unnatural hair. We'd be competing for all the zero jobs in our demographic after we graduated from our non-schools.”

Jinx laughed. "You know, it's funny, I haven't ever told anyone this stuff before? Mammoth is the only one who knows even some of it. But here I am telling you."

"...I kind of get it. A lot of the stuff I've told you, I haven't told the other Titans, and I've known them for years."

"Wow, really?" Jinx felt a strange thrill. She wasn't just getting to know Raven. She was getting more out of her than anyone else had. They were sharing something unique to them.

"I've learned that we all have our stories, villain or not, and the Titans are more about accepting that than knowing every little thing. As long as we accept each other's weirdness, it doesn't matter. Everyone understands. We don't even need to learn each others' real names.”

"Exactly! It's not like we'll find anyone else who understands, right?"

Raven nodded and took her hand back, digging properly into the food again. Jinx ate her own in the silence, already satisfied with the outing. As she watched, though, it was clear Raven was preparing to go even further. 

"...My mother... was born in Gotham. And in Gotham, there is a cult. I think you know about it. It’s why I hesitated earlier."

Jinx felt her emotional high drop faster than a rock. This was a bombshell she'd not expected, and hit her in a personal place. "...Oh, damn. The Cult of Blood? As in, Brother Blood? Your mom was caught up in that?"

"...Yeah. That's how... I happened."

Jinx looked into Raven's eyes. "Please don't tell me he's your-"

"Yuck, no. I'm almost thankful he isn't."

Jinx's relief was palpable. "Almost? I definitely am." She'd never want to even consider being attracted to anyone related to that bastard, though she wasn't about to admit that out loud. There wasn't a former HIVE member who wasn't scarred by his administration there, some more than others.

"The cult, as it turns out, has a... connection, to some of the evil that the followers of Azar have excised from themselves. It doesn't just disappear. It gets hunted down and gathered by... certain beings. The Cult of Blood venerates those beings. My mother was involved in some of their rituals, and so gained a roundabout connection to Azarath without even knowing it. A connection that the monks of Azar later sensed and exploited, allowing her entry to their dimension."

Jinx quietly moved from across the table to Raven's side, suddenly sensing that Raven might need the feeling of closeness.

"Angela Roth got desperate. After she was pregnant with me, she rejected the cult and all of its teachings and fled, spiritually rejecting all their evil in the process. And as for me... I suppose there is truth in the notion that children are innocent, because Azarath did not reject me. The monks came to my mother soon after she left and offered her safety, and a place to raise me, far away from the Cult of Blood's retaliation. But just as she had unknowingly gained a connection to Azarath, so did I have a... connection, to the Cult of Blood's evil. A connection which threatened the safety of Azarath."

Jinx blinked, and put together the pieces. "Oh. Oh, wow. And that's why you...?"

"The monks took a risk to save me and my mother simply because they could do so. They saw it as their duty to, as moral beings. But as I grew older, the evil in me grew with me. There was no way for me to simply repeat the rituals the monks did, either. And even if there were, the monks had forbidden the practice, realizing too late the damage they had done and not wishing to repeat their mistakes. I couldn't bear to risk all of Azarath in turn just by existing there, so I broke the seals on the portal and left to keep Azarath safe."

"And that connection... Is that why you have to control yourself so much? Is that how I managed to summon you somehow, with the books Brother Blood left behind?" Suddenly, things made a lot more sense.

Raven flinched a little. "In short... yes."

Jinx felt like there was still more Raven was keeping back, but right then she didn't much care. "Well, this has been a big ol' perspective shift. Hey, let's make a deal. Just you and me."

"...What kind of deal?"

"Knowing what I do now, I... Well, just... look, I don't want to treat you badly, okay? Turns out I kind of like you after all. So how about I lay off ordering you around so much for now. Let's relax that whole thing. Us Blood survivors gotta stick together." 

And if it made Jinx feel a little less guilty about this summoning thing, which increasingly seemed less like a triumph and more like a disaster waiting to happen, that was a nice bonus.

Raven looked at her almost teasingly. "And what do I have to promise in turn?"

"You pay for the next refill because damn, Sunshine, you can pack away that food like it's nobody's business. I thought I liked spicy food, but I have to admit defeat. You'll eat my entire allowance at this rate. You brought your own card, didn't you? I know the Titans have some kind of budget."

Raven's eyes widened. "You... do know the Titans will be tracking my personal debit charges, right? That's why I haven't even suggested using it."

"What's life without a little risk? It'll be fun."

"...Alright. And another promise in turn. I won't ask about... him."

Jinx felt relieved. She might have been more ready to talk about that than she'd ever been before, but Raven wasn't going to push her on what the Academy had been like under Brother Blood, perhaps sensing something of what Jinx had gone through... or just understanding it, the same way she’d understood with the dragon. She leaned a little into Raven and smiled. "Not today."

They sat together like that for the rest of their meal, some barriers having broken down between them. Jinx didn't think she'd ever consider Raven a clear-cut enemy again, which was bound to make things even more complicated down the line... but what was life without a little risk?

She raised her glass. "To survivors."

Raven raised hers. "To us."

The personal declaration surprised Jinx, but not as much as Raven touching her nose did. Jinx felt her body jump in shock.

“Boop. Got you back.”

  
  
  
  
  


Predictably, just minutes after they'd paid and left, the familiar blue T-car had screeched to a halt next to the restaurant. Jinx had insisted on sitting at a cafe down the street, despite the immense risk, just to see what would happen. Cyborg and Robin emerged, asking questions and looking around. She had no doubt Starfire and Beast Boy would be in the air.

"Cyborg looked almost straight at me and didn't recognize me," Raven said quietly, hiding her eyes with a pair of sunglasses.

"Told you. He probably thinks you look similar but not quite right, so he dismissed you quickly. Disguise is a funny art that way."

Raven still looked with undisguised longing at the Titans from the corner of her eye, pretending as hard as she could to be absorbed in dessert which she somehow still had room for. Jinx's guilt reared its ugly head again, but she couldn't stand up without possibly drawing attention to them. She couldn't find a quick solution to her self-made dilemma. It quickly stopped being exciting and started being awkward.

But then a voice amplified by some hidden loudspeaker suddenly cut through the noise of the city.

'"Ello, my duckies. Fancy meetin' all the city's delinquent super-powered children out and about 'round 'ere. I think it's time we all got together for another lesson."

Raven paled a little, a strange sight with her skin. "Oh, no. It's Mad Mod. He's here somewhere!"

"Who?" asked Jinx.

"Me", said Mad Mod, right behind her.

Jinx's instincts kicked in, and she twirled as fast as lightning out of her seat, but before she could send a hex bolt flying a gem-topped cane smacked her hard on the knuckles, dispersing the gathering pink energy. Jinx felt Raven yank her backwards protectively with a black tendril.

"Ow! What the-" Jinx stared. If she'd tried to sit down and concoct a character made of nothing but British stereotypes out of the fifties or sixties, she'd have fallen short of this guy's yellowing crooked teeth, union jack coat and shockingly red Beatles-style haircut which, in immortal fashion, the famous band had named 'Arthur'. She didn't even know where to begin to quip back at him, more dumbfounded than cautious. When he spoke, his accent fit the rest of him like a glove.

"'Ello, Jinx. You might not know me, but I've been 'earin' about you. Something about helping the Teen Titans take down the city's 'ard-working villains." The man spat those last words out like they were a kidney pie gone bad. "You've shown promise, but I'm afraid you're due for a remedial lesson or two along with the do-gooding lowlives. Speakin' of which, 'ere they come!"

"Mad Mod!" shouted Robin, quickly extending his bo staff. "Titans, G- Raven? Jinx?!"

Beast boy landed, having taken the form of an eagle, and quickly transformed. His arm seemed to have received some treatment, but he was clearly still favoring one leg. "Dude, Raven. What are you wearing? It looks pretty cool on you."

"What!" Cyborg's shout cut through the din of Jump's citizens quickly vacating the scene. "Damn, I didn't even recognize you two!"

Raven smirked. "I've had a day."

Mad Mod tutted. "Skipping school to talk about the latest fashions won't do either, as much as it reminds me of my own misspent youth of vespas and ska. The only thing you'll all be wearing from now on, me lads and luvvies, is dunce caps for achieving yet another failing grade from the school of Mad Mod."

Jinx looked at Raven, pointing at Mod. "What. Even."

"...Old foe."

Mad Mod danced a strange little jig. "And if I've got any say in it, your final one. Ah, here comes our last missing student, late for roll call."

Starfire descended, shooting her star bolts at Mad Mod in an attempted ambush. He deflected them with a quick twirl of his cane, then shot out strange red tendrils from the gem-tipped end which engulfed her, causing her to fall roughly to the ground.

"Starfire!" shouted Robin.

"Time for a change of venue, my duckies!" Before anyone could react, a strange gas rose from all around them. Jinx coughed and fell, feeling in her last waking moment Raven's hands catching her and Mod’s laughter echoing around her.


	8. The Break Mod Club

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is use of colored text in this chapter. Hide Creator's Style will get rid of it. There is also a content warning for some prejudiced language, and an extra special thanks to my sensitivity reader for their input.

Jinx groggily woke up. Testing her arms, she found them tied down, along with her legs. She was laid out on some kind of sloped slab in a dark room, illuminated only by a spotlight. Odd bands of lime-colored energy surrounded her limbs. She tried to fire a hex, but her power simply wouldn't respond. She still felt it within her, but it was as trapped as she was, as if the energy were preventing it from reaching her limbs.

She looked around as the others came to. Robin and Beast Boy had more traditional shackles, Starfire and Cyborg had their own shackles and energy bonds as well, and right across from her, Raven was bound across the waist with a white halo, straining against it as hard as she could. And next to her…

"Billy? Is that you?" Billy Numerous was there, glued bodily to the slab from neck to toe with some kind of dark green goo.

"Jinx? What the heck's going on? I can't seem to find any other Billies! Right, Billy?"

There was no second Billy to respond.

"See?" said Billy. "I'm beside myself ‘cause I'm not beside myself!"

"We're all in this together, Billy," said Raven, her voice a little scratchier than usual. "We'll find our way out of it."

"Raven is right," said Starfire. "We have faced the Mod before. Our powers will return to us once we are released from these bonds."

Robin took stock of the situation, frowning at his shackles. "Jinx? Billy? Why did Mad Mod capture you?"

As if on cue, a voice boomed from above. "Why not ask the man 'imself, lad!"

A school bell rang in the darkness, and the slabs all moved to face what looked like a giant whiteboard, Mad Mod standing there looking proud of himself as the lights lit up a fairly standard high school class room, except as if it had been painted by a funhouse decorator with far too much time to burn. Jinx realized what they were laid out on; oversized sloped school desks.

"This is a lot of effort for a bad joke, Mod." She growled and strained against the energy to no effect, looking at the others trying the same thing.

"The only joke 'ere is you callin' yourself a villain, luv. Seriously! What's the big idea, 'elpin' to take down two villains in one day, then tryin' to pass yourself off as some kind of big threat? You're a joke! Your team is a joke!"

"Say that again to my face, creep."

Jinx immediately regretted her bravado as Mad Mod's face suddenly seemed to fill the entire space around her own. The halitosis was unbearable. "You're a joke, little Jinxy. Allow me to demonstrate the exact bounds of your failure."

The desks all snapped left, and the entire wall of the classroom turned over itself. On the new white surface was a short bullet-pointed list with pictures: One of Raven, one of what looked like caricatures of Mumbo, Rancid and Doctor Light, and the third a horde of Billies.

"First, you got this little birdy 'ere-" he pointed his cane at Raven - "to join you somehow, but you ain't capitalized on it! Where's the big show of power? Where's the darkness swallowin' the city whole? She's wasted on someone like you!"

"Big words for a-" Jinx didn't complete her sentence before a lime-green tendril emerged from her table and slapped her face.

"I ain't done talkin', lil' Gupta."

Jinx heard Raven's sharp intake of breath from across the room even as her anger rose. "Oh you did NOT just go there, you limey ba-" The tendril now wrapped itself around Jinx's mouth, effectively shutting her up.

Cyborg looked confused. "What did he even call her just now?"

Raven looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Imagine if he'd just called Starfire 'Troq.'"

Starfire gasped, and Cyborg bristled. "Hey! I don't know what that's all about, but that's way outta line!"

Mad Mod smacked his cane into his desk, producing an explosive sound that knocked the wind out of them. "Quiet while teacher's talkin'! Now, on to point the second. You went and knocked out two villains in one day, you did. They weren't even competin' for your turf or anyfin'. You could 'ave gone and robbed any ol' place while the Titans were short 'anded, but what do you do? Go and frighten poor Doctor Light out of his wits and steal Mumbo's hat when they were on an 'onest to badness villainous rampage, when neither one was remotely stoppin' you from robbin' that bank! That's all you've used Raven's power for! What kind of villain does that, I ask you?"

"Yep, Jinx did do that. Right Billy... oh, right. There's just Billy now." Billy looked profoundly sad.

"Why did you do that, anyway?" asked Beast Boy. Jinx glared at him, raising an eyebrow as the energy tendril kept her mouth shut. "Oh, whoops. Sorry."

"Don't apologize to the villains, Beast Boy!" said Robin.

"Jeez, So-rry!"

Jinx rolled her eyes. Robin's bo staff was clearly the shortest stick he hid on his person.

"And that brings us to point the third..." Mad Mod turned towards Billy, waving his cane menacingly. "What kind of villain goes and saves people from a fallin' building, little Billy Numerous? You think usin' your multiplication to save lives is a productive use of your talents? I think you need some remedial maths!"

"Wha- Hey, there's stealin', but leavin' folks to die's another thing! That's a line I ain't gonna cross-"

"The POINT of being a villain, my duckie, the entire POINT, is to cross lines that the sheep of the masses won't! If you ain't colorin' outside the lines society has set for you, why are you even pretendin' you're some kind of bad guy?"

"B-But I just like the money," Billy finished meekly.

"Oh, he just likes the money. You 'ear that, kids? You know who does crime just for a bit of dosh? Small-time gangsters an' bangers an' dealers an' yobs. They aren't villains. No, they aren't no villains at all, and if that's all you're gonna do with your life, you aren't no villain neither."

"Why bother capturing us if all you're doing is lecturing them, Mod?" asked Robin.

"Oh, I already made plans for you, is the thing. But then I saw that bank mess, an’ these lil' brats just went and changed my plans a bit, forcin' me to up my timetable and design some extra special detention for them. I wasn’t even plannin’ on a proper class reunion, but sometimes one just has to stand by one’s lack of principles. Don't think you Titans are gonna skip class just 'cause some other schoolmates ain't up to snuff. You're still a bunch of bad-for-nuffin' do-gooders in need of correction. Disgustin', if you ask me."

"No one wanted your opinion," said Raven.

"Too bad, sprog. It's time to start your lessons." He tapped the ruby on his cane, and the desks began to move and separate the two teams, distancing Jinx from Raven. Jinx strained and fought, but was helpless to do anything but watch.

Robin turned to look at Jinx. "Jinx! Listen! He uses hypnosis to control you, but it's all just technology! If we're separated, find a way behind the smoke and mirrors! He controls it all with that cane!"

Jinx's eyes went wide, and she nodded at the Titan, understanding the need for a temporary alliance. Hypnosis, she thought with disgust. She absolutely hated mind control, but at least it wasn't magic or metahuman powers.

The wall of the classroom turned over again, this time revealing some kind of screen showing a huge black-and-white flashing circle pattern. To Jinx's surprise, Beast Boy almost immediately went limp, his tongue sticking out at a weird angle as he made as he made an odd monotonous sound.

"Dang, that boy's real susceptible, huh?" said Billy.

"Unfortunately," agreed Starfire, keeping her eyes away from the swirls and whorls as much as she could. "But also unfortunate is that for the rest of us, it is only a matter of time!"

"Titans! Resist as long as you can!" ordered Robin.

Jinx had no intention of doing otherwise. She saw the robot arms popping out of hidden panels in the floor, holding eyes open and heads still, forcing everyone to look at the screen. She looked over at beast boy, drooling like a waterspout. In fact, as she watched, his drool was pooling on the ground below... and she had an idea. She could still feel the energy inside her, she just couldn't release it through her usual methods. And if there was one thing true about luck, it was that you couldn’t control it. She swished some spit in her mouth and looked to her sides. If only... She mumbled and strained against the energy holding her mouth closed, looking Mod's way. If her mouth hadn't been bound, she'd have made the entire room blush. Apparently, even the muffled sound was enough for Mod to catch the gist of it.

"'Ere now, Jinxy me luv. You already can't talk, but you really want me to wash out that mouth of yours with soap that badly?" He touched the gem on his cane and sure enough, thin robotic armatures ascended from the black-and-white tiled floor, complete with a large loofah and a wet bar of pink soap. They edged closer, and the energy around her mouth dissipated.

At that exact moment, when the timing felt just right, she hocked the biggest, wettest loogie she'd ever passed through her lips, tinged with just the tiniest amount of pink energy she'd been able to conjure through her tongue. Her own power left an aftertaste like she'd eaten metallic strawberries. Everyone who still could followed the projectile's trajectory, arcing through the air, past the robotic arms, almost exactly straight up, before descending back down into an open panel in the floor. She prayed that it was enough.

Sure enough, something in the floor below shorted out, and the loofah armature crashed hard into her desk, disabling a tendril around her arm. She immediately hexed the desk below her, causing it to release her, and spun away as Mod's cane came down at her head, missing by inches.

"Oy! No spittin' in the classroom, you disgustin' little mite!"

"Shouldn't have let me within spitting distance then!" Jinx twirled around, shooting hexes at other robotic arms rising round her while dodging and weaving between their projectiles, making sure she hit some of the tables the others were stuck to. Robin and Cyborg were loose first, followed shortly by Starfire and Billy. Beast Boy and Raven came last, Raven holding up the green boy as best she could.

"Why do I always end up babysitting him when Mod's around," she asked rhetorically.

Robin jumped in front, taking a fighting stance. "Time for the Titans to teach you a lesson, Mod. Number one; kidnapping. Count to twenty to life."

"Huh," said Jinx, standing right next to him, a big smile on her face as she let her hair loose and magically reformed it to its usual shape. "Those one-liners really are more satisfying when you're not on the receiving end. Truce until he’s down?”

“Fine by me,” agreed Robin, grinning back.

"Oh, now this won't do in Moddy's classroom," said the odd brit. "I'm afraid it's detention for the lot of you!" A swish of the cane, and Raven and Beast Boy descended through panels in the floor into the unknown darkness below. Jinx didn't even see the floor tile below her open; it had already been black, and it just suddenly turned into a hole she fell into.

She fell into some kind of chute which deposited her in an empty, black-and-white chequered room, quickly getting on her feet. She tested her footing and found that some of the squares were hidden steps. She walked down and through the optical illusion that told her there was nothing there, her eyes hurting just from looking at them, and found Raven and Beast Boy in what looked like an identical eye-hurting room. She saw no way for her to climb back.

“Jinx.” Raven acknowledged her, propping up the drooling teen with her arms. “Help me snap him out of this. Making him laugh works.”

“What, can’t you do it?”

“...Beast Boy’s humor is a bit below my regular level.”

“Like, how far below? Slapstick, dad jokes, or are we talking grody boogers?”

Beast Boy snapped out of it, laughing. “Haha, boogers. Classic. What? Aw man, not this again!”

“...Like I said,” said Raven, rolling her eyes.

Mod’s voice came from all around them. “Oh, you’re all havin’ a bit of a chinwag down there, are you? I’m afraid it’s time for our lil’ villain’s remedial lessons, now! For our first lesson, a bit o’ color theory!”

The scenery shifted strangely and the chequered floor moved, pulling the teens apart and shifting into a flowing rainbow of colors. Raven tried to fly over to Jinx only to impact on an orange square they somehow had not seen coming. Jinx nearly lost her footing moving from yellow to blue to green. Then the colors on the teens themselves started changing. Beast Boy became black. Raven turned pink. The red, brown, and teal shapes somehow confused her eyes and made it impossible to discern distance between any two points.

Everything looked wrong. She focused on Raven, knowing what her usual colors were. Her hair was green and Beast Boy's fur was purple. Jinx tried firing a blue hex bolt in a random direction to get her bearings. It was working, sort of, but difficult to wrap her head around.

“Honestly, luvvie,” echoed Mod’s voice, taking on a strange hypnotic patter in combination with the colors. “Youshouldbegrateful.YouknowwhyIlikevillains?BecausetheBritishEmpirewasamongthegreatestof‘emall!Canyouimaginegoin’throughyourlife,tryin’tojustifywhatwasdoneinthenameofEmpireasheroican’moral?OnceIembracedthetruthofit,Ifounditquiteliberatin’!Andyou,ofallofthesekids,shouldunderstandthatbest!”

Mod himself was there, also color-shifted. Jinx did her best to resist the hypnotic swirling and focused on his union jack jacket; the flag’s brown, green and - white! That was it! As soon as her eyes saw the regular color she expected on his jacket, she could discern where she was in relation to Mad Mod, see the outline of his shape!

“Raven! Cover everything with your power! Like you did in the bank!”

Raven focused, and everything in the room turned her blacker-than-black, so strangely visible to the eye despite being seemingly pure dark. Suddenly, the three teens could discern the shapes of the room again, just some pathetic machinery wobbling some cubes around.

Mod, however, was not with them, except in voice only. “You should be happy, Jinxie luv. You’ve got my country’s kind of villainy to aspire to!”

Jinx bristled, more furious than she’d been in a while. “The only thing I aspire to is kicking your ass so hard the Queen will feel it!”

“...Please don’t encourage him,” said a slowly recovering Raven. “We only need so many stereotypes around.”

Beast Boy got up, shaking his head, apparently not as susceptible to this new method as the screens. “Dude. What are you and Mod even talking about? I am so confused.”

Jinx looked at Beast Boy. “How much do you know about British history?”

“Only that we kicked their butts in fourteen ninety-two!”

Jinx put her hand over her eyes. This was seriously part of the team that had whooped hers? And here she’d thought recruiting Billy had been scraping the barrel a little. “Yeah, okay. Then it’s going to take way too long to explain. Can you see an exit, Sunshine?”

Raven looked closely at the walls. “Looks like it must have closed behind us. I don’t even see any seams in the ceiling.”

Beast Boy looked at Raven. "Dude, you let her call you Sunshine? Isn't that what that alien guy called you back when-"

"She can if she wants,” Raven said.

Jinx quirked her eyebrow. "Is there history there? Like if it's bad, I can just stop calling you-"

"...No. It's fine. Don't let some alien jerk we taught a lesson to dictate what you can do."

"Now that sounds like a story for later!"

Beast Boy looked at them interacting, a mix of suspicion and confusion on his face. "Okay, what's going on here. At the bank you were all calling her 'mistress' and stuff and here you are just talking like normal? And you're actually giving Jinx permission to give you a nickname? Did I miss something big?"

Raven and Jinx looked at each other. Jinx shrugged.

"...We're still working everything out," Raven said.

Beast Boy smiled deviously. "Is that why you two are dressed up like you were on a date? Raven, you dog, of course you'd be enough of a gentleman to pick up the bill!"

Raven and Jinx both glared at Beast Boy.

"Haha. Joking. I'm joking! Chill!"

Suddenly, the room started contracting, the walls shifting and moving closer. The room was rapidly getting smaller around them.

Jinx glared harder at Beast Boy. “If you have time to joke, you have time to help get us out before we’re squished!”

Beast Boy gulped and shifted into the form of a triceratops, filling most of the remaining room. He charged through the wall he could now see before shifting back, limping again on his injured leg. “That’ll do!” he said.

As they left through the wall, they found to their shock that they were back in the original classroom. The wall behind them turned over and was whole on the other side, somehow. And in the room, strapped now to an ornate chair and watching the whiteboard, was Billy.

“Guohhhuhohh,” said Beast Boy, falling to the floor. Jinx looked down at him, then at what Billy was actually looking at - a hypno screen. The green teen had somehow become hypnotized by the screen in the room before Jinx had even registered it was there.

Raven floated towards Billy. “I’ll help him, you help Beast Boy,” she said. “It’s about time someone else kept an eye on the guy.”

As soon as Jinx had picked Beast Boy up awkwardly, disaster struck again. It was as if the entire room split apart and turned around like the walls had earlier, and suddenly Jinx was somewhere completely different, a near comatose Beast Boy her only company. Raven and Billy were nowhere to be seen. The surroundings looked like a typical school hallway. She looked down and saw that somehow, she and Beast Boy had been outfitted with hall monitor passes.

Cool. Great. She was having so much fun now.

“Boogers,” she said at Beast Boy. No response. “Poopy? Loogie. Pee pee poo poo. Underpants. Come on, Beast Boy! Ugh, I can’t believe I’m reduced to babbling at this green goo-brain-”

“Hahaha, hey, that’s good!” said Beast Boy, recovered. “Hey, what? Aw, man. Why am I like this?”

Jinx let go, dropping Beast Boy to the floor and walking forward, looking for some kind of exit. “You tell me, kid. Can’t imagine why Raven says you’re one of the most experienced of the Titans.”

“Only ‘cause I am!” he said, indignantly picking himself up and following her down what increasingly looked like some kind of infinite corridor illusion. “Although this kind of brain scramble is part of why I quit the Doom Patrol in the first place.”

Jinx stared in total disbelief at Beast Boy. “Wait, you were in the Doom Patrol? Like, THE Doom Patrol?”

The kid - who, she had to remind herself, was about her age - looked at her suspiciously. “Ugh, I didn’t mean to let that slip. What, are you some kind of fan?”

“I am a fan of Madame Rouge!” she said. “And I know she’s fought the Doom Patrol!”

Beast Boy made a gagging sound. “Ew! Don’t remind me about her. At least she was fairly normal compared to some of the stuff we faced.”

Jinx simply had no response, torn between respect for the guy’s proximity to an idol and total disillusionment about how much trouble one of her idols had had with facing a team with him on it. About as much as she herself had, she thought grimly.

But at the same time… Madame Rouge and the Brotherhood of Evil were no joke. And the Doom Patrol, their traditional opponents, was sometimes too hardcore for the Justice League’s sensibilities. She realized she could not let her guard down around Beast Boy.

A hypno screen popped out of the ceiling suddenly and Beast Boy was out like a light again. Jinx hexed the screen to oblivion and sighed. Okay, maybe she could relax a little. She really, desperately missed having Raven around for company.

Then she spotted what looked like Starfire, Robin and Billy running through the hallway ahead, looking like they were taking an upside-down left on an M. C. Escher staircase. She grabbed Beast Boy by the arm and ran towards them, but the harder she ran, the further away they seemed. Robin seemed to spot her briefly, but then they disappeared and the corridor was silent again except for the echoing laughter of Mad Mod.

“Ugh! What even is this! Face me, you jerk!” Jinx began hexing all of her surroundings, and the walls of the corridor fell as if they were so much loose wallpaper, revealing once again the classroom they had started in. Mad Mod was there, standing by the whiteboard, looking at her disdainfully.

“Well, ain’t no time like the present to give you a little of the ‘elp my country gave yours, eh?”

Jinx bristled again. “You know what? These comments are just super uncalled for. What’s next, going to make a crack about curry powder? Usually I don’t make this a thing, but now you’re making this a thing, and that means this is going to get personal.”

“As personal as you ‘ave been with Raven and Beast Boy, luv?” Mod waved his cane and screens descended from the ceiling, showing her interacting and even chatting with the two Titans. “The second you get to know’em a little, you get all mushy about ‘em! Even when you could be usin’ ‘em in a dangerous situation! But look at me. I know more about you than most of my profession does, Jinxie. I know about your time in ‘Frisco. I know ‘bout your origins in that mess you call a country, not that this was easy to find. And you know wot?”

Mod somehow walked inside the whiteboard, which expanded to cover the entire wall, and became a line drawing which kept talking to her. “Knowin’ more doesn’t make me friendlier to you. All it does is give me ammunition, and you’re lettin’ me get to you far too easily over a country you ain’t known for over ‘alf your life! You don’t even take that much pride in it! Are you in this to learn people’s weaknesses and exploit ‘em, or are you in this to make - eurgh - friends? Because there’s words for people who do that, Jinx, and none of them are ‘Villain.’”

Jinx didn’t want to admit weakness just because he’d hit the mark pretty hard. “So, what, I don’t go fast enough for you? I’m not doing it right while trapped in a psychedelic hypno-maze? Is that all you got on me?”

Mod’s cartoon representation disappeared and every wall in the room turned white, displaying the hypnotic patterns from before.

“I don’t think you’ve got the guts to be in the business, luv. That’s wot. And I think you know it too, deep down. You’ll never get the respect you’re lookin’ for. You’ll never go far enough to matter, cross enough lines to make an impact. All you’ll ever be is a little girl livin’ between a world she no longer knows and another that won’t ever truly accept her, clingin’ to an illusion of ‘er own integrity. When I finally erase your mind, I’ll be doin’ you the biggest favor of your life.”

A table rose from the floor, flanked by mechanical arms, aiming to hold her down again. She focused on where a still-hypnotized Beast Boy lay in a widening puddle of drool and hexed the puddle. The drool splattered all over the room, shorting out bits and pieces of machinery. Jinx quickly grabbed the near comatose Beast Boy and left through a door that had come ajar in one of the screens in the confusion.

Only to find herself in the same old classroom again, Mod’s words still echoing in her head. She hated that his words were affecting her at all, that he could get such a rise out of her. She hated how much she was starting to agree with him. He was just trying to weaken her resistance, she told herself.

She looked at the gently drooling Beast Boy and resigned herself to her current fate. “Boobies.”

“Hahaha- Aw, man! Dude, why are we back here again?”

Jinx looked around for seams in the illusion. "Okay, what's with the calling girls 'Dude' and calling Raven a 'Gentleman' and all that? I've been in California for a while and you're still the biggest stereotype I've heard."

"Huh? Nah, it's just habit from when I grew up and learned some Swahili. Swahili doesn't do the whole gender and pronoun thing like how English does. Or not in the same way. I can't explain that stuff well. So I just say things."

"You're from Africa?"

"Nah." He frowned. "And that's all I'm saying on that."

"Hey, I get it. Didn't grow up with English either."

"Really? Huh."

"Yup. And we don't talk about our pasts in the HIVE either, so it's cool. I get where you’re coming from.” Jinx almost cursed at herself when she realized what was happening. Here she was, doing it again, exactly as Mod had said. Was she really using some kind of clever empathy strategy to learn about her opponents, or was this just bog-standard friendly conversation?

It depended, of course, on how she used the information. She turned to Beast Boy and grinned.

"I totally know your name is Garfield, though. Courtesy of Raven."

"Aw, MAN! Raven, how could you!"

Jinx laughed, then had a sudden thought. “You know, isn’t it weird how Mod hasn’t been talking to the two of us? And how we go for longer stretches in between him doing anything to us?”

“Maybe having all of us here means he has a lot on his plate?” suggested Beast Boy.

As soon as he said this, Robin and Billy were summarily dumped into the room with them. Billy seemed to have been hypnotized and was being held up by another Billy, but Robin just shook himself off and looked at Jinx. “Any luck finding a weakness?”

“You won’t find a weakness in my defenses again, my duckies!” came Mod’s voice. From the floor rose the familiar array of robot arms, and something clicked with Jinx as the teens backed up and she hexed the incoming threats.

“Beast Boy just gave me an idea! Robin, the more we’re split up, the more he has to split his attention between us! This place has to need a lot of computing power to keep going!” She hexed an arm that ran with scissors at Beast Boy, who was having trouble dodging because of his injuries.

Robin nodded, understanding. “We’ve been trying to stick together for safety, but Mod only keeps us in groups of two or three right now, and every time Billy is around he’s tried to split us up more. So if we split up and are in many places at once-”

“-We just might overload his system!” said Jinx. “Billy, can you split yourself up as much as you can and just be all over the place?”

“Billy sees where this is goin’!” “Yeah, Billy! Time to do what we do best!” “Er, what’s that Billy?” “Be a lot of Billy!” “Yeah! I’m Billy Numerous!”

The Billies multiplied and multiplied. The walls turned, the room shifted, but they just kept coming. Jinx stuck near Beast Boy as Robin let himself be whisked away again. The green boy pointed at the corner of the room. “Jinx! Look!”

Right in the very edge of the room, the corner was glitching out. Jinx grinned and tossed an extra large hex bolt at it, and the entire room shuddered and disappeared, leaving them standing by what she recognized as holographic projectors. “My, what a lot of delicate equipment,” said Jinx. “Wanna make like a bull in a china shop with me, Beast Boy?”

He just smiled at her and promptly became a large green bull, inviting her to ride on top. She grabbed a horn and started hexing everything she could while the bull trampled and bowled over everything vaguely electronic in sight. Starfire and Cyborg emerged from the hologram of what looked like some kind of hellish chemistry class and blasted apart robotic arms which held various chemicals, plus at least one which looked like a flame thrower in the shape of a bunsen burner. Raven and Robin followed suit, rapidly destroying as many of the previously hidden hypno screens as they could. A few dozen billies emerged, some more dazed than others.

Jinx jumped off the tiring bull, letting Beast Boy rest his injured limbs, and ran for what looked distinctly like a control center in the middle of the large industrial-looking space. An old man, clearly Mad Mod himself, emerged from it and tried to run for the exit, but felt Jinx’s boot on his back before he’d taken more than a few steps. His dropped cane twirled in the air, and she deftly caught it as the other teens gathered around.

"No! I'm done, have a lil’ mercy for an old codger!" said the older, tired Mod.

Jinx was inclined to give him no such thing. "You know what I don't like about you, Mod? Your concept of villains."

"Oh, you think you know better than me, do ya sprog?" The old man could barely move under Jinx's boot.

"Of course I do. What did you just do? You made up a bunch of rules and restrictions so you could grade villains you don't like on a nice even curve. Like there's a standard amount of villainy you have to reach before you're legal to drive the giant death machine and command the robot minions."

She pressed the boot down a little harder, and Mod could barely even squirm anymore.

"But here's the thing, Moddy. Villains don't like to follow others’ rules. If we decide to make up our own, that's our business. And if that means we want to do things a certain way, follow our own codes of conduct, that's none of yours. If the law or the Man can’t tell me what to do, neither can you.”

Jinx stepped fully on the old man, knocking the wind out of him, walking across his back and over his head before turning around and bending her knees, lifting his chin with the tip of his own cane to look him straight in the eye.

"But, more than that, after meeting you, I just especially don't like the British right now. Your time is over, _angrez_. The sun has set on your sad little holographic empire.”

Mod averted his gaze from Jinx's angry slit-eyed glare, finally defeated, and she let him go, walking away triumphantly, twirling the cane in her fingers. "He's all yours, Robin. But I'm keeping this.”

Robin quickly cuffed the old man, but didn't take his eyes off Jinx. "Collecting more villain trophies, now? You really are starting a hero league."

The quip made Jinx direct her glare at Robin who stared right back, uncowed. "Let's not make this a regular thing, bird boy."

"Well, that's a problem," he said as he secured Mod where he lay. "Because it's going to keep being a thing so long as you have Raven."

Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy flanked Robin on either side. In response, Billy and Raven flanked her.

Jinx put on her game face, leaning on the cane. "She doesn't want to fight you, but she will if you try to touch me."

Robin looked at Raven. "I know you've resisted worse than this."

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Raven, I'm sorry to have to ask this, but could you step over here and inform your friends of the terms of your binding?"

Raven said nothing, her eyes glassy. Jinx was struck by how impassive and unreadable she was, now; they might only have really got to know each other in a few days, and had made incredible strides in such a short time, but Jinx thought she had gotten good at reading her. Now, all she saw was stone.

Raven closed her eyes, and opened them again, now glowing red. The angry red runes appeared over her body, looking strange in her new casual wear, the broken rune on her forehead glowing especially harshly.

"I am bound to obey Jinx," the sorceress intoned. "I am bound to not seek my escape from Jinx. I am bound to see to Jinx's safety and defend her from harm. Jinx binds me, as my summoner."

"Your... summoner?" Robin's expression was a mixture of shock and confusion. "As in...?"

Raven's voice became entirely impassive. "This is part of who I am, Robin. Only she can undo this."

Jinx's eyebrow rose. What was that supposed to mean? Whatever it meant, it had an impact on the Titans, all of them backing away slightly.

"Is there truly no way for you to resist, Raven?" asked Starfire pleadingly.

"No more than Robin could stop the planet turning with his bare hands, or Beast Boy could pass a trigonometry exam. It’s not in my nature. It just isn't happening."

The little green guy bristled. "Hey! I know that word! I think." He scratched his head with left hand, his right arm still hurting, and favoring one leg. Jinx saw Raven staring at him, and took a chance. He’d been handy for a bit, so why not give him a break?

"I know you really want to help him, Raven."

She looked at Jinx, her eyes a little more expressive.

Jinx smiled a little. "Don't wait for my permission."

Raven stepped towards Beast Boy, raising her hands. "Hold still, Beast Boy. Let me take a look at that." Her hands glowed white, and the green boy held himself perfectly still for once as Raven tended to him.

Jinx reflected on what she’d learned about the Titans that day. Even Beast Boy seemed to have more depth to him than she’d thought. The heroes had always been a stick to measure herself and the HIVE against, but had she ever really known their full measure to begin with? What had she even been competing against, really? Them, or her idea of them?

Nothing really seemed to be the same since that damn summoning.

Jinx looked at the other Titans. Seeing Raven healing Beast Boy seemed to defuse the tension a bit. But they were also wary of Raven where she was kneeling, absorbed in her task. Starfire looked immensely sad, Cyborg's face was unreadable, and Robin was frowning so hard he could have split wood with his eyebrows. But they weren't attacking.

"I feel like I'm in a Mexican standoff with people made o' laser guns and someone just changed the dang rules without tellin' me," muttered Billy. "Dang right, Billy,” agreed Billy.

Raven was at it for a few minutes more before she got up. "You should be fine now, Beast Boy. Just remember I'm... not going to be around all the time right now."

"Okay," the furred kid said, his voice cracking terribly. "It's alright. We'll all make it through this."

Raven smiled her tiny smile, then rejoined Jinx where she stood.

"We're leaving," Jinx said. "Don't try to follow us."

Robin stared directly at her. "If you mistreat her, I won't stop until you're all in jail."

“You’re not stopping anyway, Robin. We both know that.” Jinx turned away. "Let's go. Oh, and Beast Boy?”

“Yeah?” said the green teen, eyeing her distrustfully.

“Try not to hate mondays so much.”

“Maaaaaan,” the green teen said as she, Billy and Raven walked away.

Raven did not look back even once at her friends.


	9. Just Desserts

The tension back at home base was thicker than Mammoth's skull. He and Gizmo weren't around when they got back, but Raven's mood was enough to make the kitchen feel too small for just the three of them - and Billy wasn't even being his usual uncontained multitudes.

Jinx put Mod's cane on the middle of the table and stared at it. It was well past dinnertime, but she wasn’t feeling up for anything.

"What's the plan, boss?"

Jinx couldn't say.

"I mean our pet goth didn't stop Mod from tryin' to-"

"I have a name," said Raven with more anger than Jinx had ever heard. The kitchen lights flickered, and in the intermittent darkness Raven's eyes glowed red. The anger was like a stab in Jinx's heart, but she said nothing.

"Whoah! Sorry, Raven. Glad you can't hurt us right now."

"Why do you think I can't hurt you?" asked Raven.

"Uh. Wasn't that part of the whole, havin' to obey Jinx thing? Pretty sure you said that."

"...I can't harm her. I've just been polite with the rest of you up to now." Jinx could only see Raven's angry smile from where she sat, but just for a second it seemed like her mouth was filled with fangs. She blinked, and the girl's teeth returned to normal.

Billy made a very small sound. "Er, boss, you wanna rein her in a little?"

"Nope," Jinx said. "You're just going to have to learn to be polite to her."

He gulped. "Duly noted, ma'am."

Jinx sighed, fiddling idly with the gem-topped cane. "Billy, go get the ice cream."

"Really? It ain't Ice Cream Day yet, right?"

"Let's make an exception."

The HIVE knew its ice cream. They had frozen fruit, syrup, toppings and flavors at the ready, Jinx long since having learned that the threat of taking away Ice Cream Day was a bigger motivator than even money to the other brats. Raven seemed to calm down a little with a big helping of chili cream with chocolate and strawberries; at least the lights weren't flickering madly after she put the first spoonful in her mouth. Was there such a thing as a spicy tooth? If so, Raven had it. Jinx was shocked she could still eat after what had already disappeared inside her at lunch.

Jinx, for her part, stared at the cane as she picked at her frankensteinian monstrosity of sugar and ice that was more sprinkle than cream, sneaking constant glances at Raven's choker. Raven, being self-conscious as usual, summoned her cloak from Jinx's room and put it on.

"So uh," Billy ventured after they'd eaten half of their treats in silence. "Can't help but notice you don't seem to enjoy the whole bindin' thing much, boss."

"I don't," said Jinx. Raven looked up at her, but Jinx didn't meet her eyes.

"And you ain't using it much either."

"Don’t feel like it." Plus, she'd made a promise, but no need to talk about that. That was fairly clearly Girl Talk.

Billy had another spoonful. "I mean, gonna be honest, if Raven's a prisoner she's bein' treated like she attended the HIVE herself."

"Do you want to treat her worse than the rest of us, Billy? After what we've done and been through together? After today?"

"Uh, I, uhm. I don't. I mean. I wasn't." He hunched over his bowl. "I wouldn't say I do really."

"Exactly. Awkward, isn't it."

Raven took another spoonful, observing them both but saying nothing, her irritation still obvious.

"I never knew you to ever DO 'awkward', boss. I mean normally if something bothers you, you just quit it and find somethin' new. Why not here? Just let her go and find a new plan?"

Raven looked intently at Jinx.

"That's the million dollar question, isn't it."

"I got an extra million waitin' to be laundered from the bank if you want it," said Billy.

Jinx grinned. "Nah, I'll give this one free. Yeah, this thing? It's nothing like what I wanted, turns out. I don't want a damn prisoner, or slave, or whatever. And her being here means the Titans have more incentive than ever to just take us out, so it's dangerous to keep it up."

"But?"

"Robbery and thievery and all that has landed us with low-grade sentences, Billy. Sure they make special cells and cuffs for us because we're metas or whatever, but we don't get maximum metahuman security. We look out for each other, pay bail, spring each other out, the usual."

Billy frowned. "What's that got to do with it?"

"Think about it. Right now I'm guilty of torture and kidnapping. That's not juvie stuff, that's hardcore enough with my record to make a judge overlook my age. I mean, I sugarcoated the whole music and isolation and starvation thing but I was just kidding myself, it's all torture, it's not like I'm the government and can get away with it. I'm not even gonna pretend to justify it anymore. And where do I go if I get sentenced?"

Billy sat back. "One of the big name serious prisons."

Jinx nodded. "Or worse, with my luck, I get locked up in whatever secret spot it is the Justice League parks its prisoners because I managed to put a collar on someone strong enough to beat Superman without even having the guts to use it to my advantage."

Billy gulped.

"Being based in space means they don't have to worry about niceties like law or humane treatment, either." Jinx took a big spoonful of sprinkle.

Raven cut in. "...Unfortunately true, to a point. Some prisoners the League keeps are kept frozen, or suspended in stasis, pretty much indefinitely. It's reserved for the exceptionally dangerous or unstable, theoretically to help them if they ever find a way to, but it's a thorny issue in our communities. I'm... not a fan."

Jinx shuddered. She could see her power being judged unstable enough if she was having an unlucky day. "If I let Raven go, how long do you think it takes her to lead her friends to us, or for Robin to drag it out of her even if she somehow does us the huge favor of not snitching? And why would she do that for us? It's not like I can make her promise the Titans won't make the city press charges, she can't even say anything that makes it look like she's trying to get out of this."

Raven narrowed her eyes, but said nothing, proving the point.

"Aw, hell," Billy said.

"I'll take the fall, Billy. If this blows up, lay it all on me, and that's an order. All of it. It's my idea, my plan, she only obeys me, you know the drill. I'm not bringing you all down with me. But when I do... how do I get out of it? Are you going to sneak into maximum security to spring me out just like that? Or go to space to fetch me? I'd stop you if you even tried because that's a stupid plan. And as good as I think I am, I’m not sure I could escape on my own either."

"Boss..." Billy choked a little. "What if some big name wants to spring you out, though? That can happen too."

"That's the problem, isn't it? You heard what Moddy said. We're still a joke even after all this. And if an imperialist limey jerk with a few holographic projectors, hypno-screens and bad teeth thinks we're the joke, then how many big names do you think would find me being in maximum security a good punchline? No one's gonna stick their neck out for us, Billy. Not for me. No one ever has."

Raven's shoulders slumped. "I... didn't think of that," she said. "I'm starting to understand better."

Jinx smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Wasn't your job to think of it, Sunshine. So you see Billy, If I keep Raven, I keep hurting her without wanting to and giving her and her friends more reasons to hate us, which is eventually going to explode in our faces and probably get us caught." Or just explode in my face, she privately thought. "If I let her go, my life is basically over anyway. Robin wasn't kidding about the twenty-to-life thing when we fought Mod, as corny as it sounded. Either way, there's no winning for me this time."

Billy reached out and pushed the cane on the table. "Unless we ain't a joke anymore."

Jinx stretched as she finished off her bowl. "Yeah, but how well is that working out? We thought we'd get respect for pulling a bank heist. Instead we just made this weirdo obsessed with teaching us our place and made the news gossip about our love life. And say Mod was right. We're both thinking it, Billy. What if there is no respect unless we start crossing lines?”

Billy nodded. “The lifer trap.”

Raven quirked an eyebrow. “The what?”

Jinx sighed. “It’s what you get when the sentence hanging over your head is so bad that it can’t possibly get worse. No threat of making your punishment worse will stop you, and you have no incentive to not just do ever more horrible things to keep your bad-ass rep up, so you just keep getting more extreme. If you ever wondered why Gotham’s underworld is so intense, that’s part of it. And now that could be me. Or us."

Billy shook his head. "Y’know, I liked what you done said about the rules and making them ourselves, Boss. I don't want no one on my conscience, and you don't neither."

Jinx felt a little pang of pride. It wasn't often that she inspired people. "And thus, here we are, stuck, and for once I don't see a way to cheat myself out of it. Anyone want a second helping?"

Raven's empty bowl was encased in dark energy and scooted over to Jinx, even though Raven wasn't meeting her eyes. Jinx grinned. Ice cream fixed so many problems, and when it came to the spicy stuff the gloomy girl was clearly bottomless. The kitchen lights flickered oddly, still, but less so.

Jinx got a second bowl for herself and Raven, while Billy sat and stared at the ceiling. After a few more scoops, Raven suddenly spoke up.

"...They're villains. Don't wait for them to give you respect."

"Wha?" said Billy, coming down from whatever cloud his head had been in. "What's that you said?"

"...You need them to respect you, right? But they'll never give it for free. Crossing lines just to earn their respect will just make it less likely they'll give you any because no one likes a brown-noser. They might just be a little more afraid to mess with you at most. That's the only real kind of respect a villain understands. If you’re going to do something drastic, at least do it on your own terms."

Jinx blinked. "Maybe that's it!"

"...What?"

"Maybe we don't need to earn their respect by doing things their way. We just make our rules, and then force them to respect how we do things. Make them afraid to mess with us!"

Billy looked dubiously at Jinx. "And how do we make someone respect the way we wanna do things, boss?"

"By making them respect our turf." Jinx took the cane, fiddling idly with its disabled control buttons as her grin grew wider. "Put the word out, Billy. The HIVE is staking a claim. You mess with Jump without our say, you mess with us, and if you mess with us, you go down. That should make them sit up and take notice. When they do, we just might have enough clout to let me take the fall and get out of it again." And I can release Raven, she thought privately. This was already out of hand enough.

"Aw, jeez, boss. You think they'll go for it?"

"Remind them about Doctor Light, The Failmazing Mumbo and Mad Mod if they don't. We've been taking down our rivals. Let's make use of it."

Raven looked at both of them. "...You do realize this is basically how the Titans work, right? There's another reason we have a trophy room. It's not just containment, it's a warning to villains."

Jinx grinned. "Why, that's an excellent idea, Raven. Let's clear some space down below tomorrow."

“...And what’s the difference between you and Mad Mod trying to get people to follow arbitrary rules?”

“Consent and forewarning, Sunshine. It’s easier on the pride if you accept the conditions yourself, and you don’t get caught by someone’s secret agenda. It’s just that the conditions are that the city is ours. Basic turf war rules.”

"Robin was right," Raven said, shaking her head. "You really are just starting a hero team."

Jinx and Billy looked at each other, then flicked bits of ice cream at Raven, who sputtered. "Oh, it's on now! Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

  
  
  


By the time Billy and Mammoth got back to base, the kitchen was absolutely filthy. "Hey! What's the big idea, having a bonus Ice Cream Day without us!"

Jinx wiped her face with a tablecloth. "We left plenty, help yourselves. Where have you two been?"

"We WERE making a plan to get you back from that snot-stuffin' British weirdo, but by the time we figured out where his base was the cops were all over it. Speakin' of which, did you see the latest?"

"Latest what?" asked Jinx.

Gizmo's backpack opened and a robotic limb fetched a newspaper from it. It had seven pictures; one for each of the Titans, one for Billy, and one for Jinx. They'd used the flattering shot of her in Mumbo's hat, while Billy's was clearly a mugshot he'd somehow been in full costume for. "The stinkin' Titans shared credit with you two for takin' the guy out and the news is runnin’ wild with it."

"Cool. The new plan is working. Let me fill you in." Gizmo's confusion made her laugh.

Mammoth, to Jinx's surprise, got his triple-size special ice cream bowl out and raised a fist for Raven on the way. The purple-haired girl, covered in small bits of ice cream and sprinkles, eyed the big fist dubiously, then bumped it with her own. "Welcome back," he said, before emptying the rest of the freezer. Mammoth accepting Raven made Jinx feel strangely warm.

  
  
  


That night, a freshly-showered Jinx rolled out the futon only for a black tendril of energy to roll it immediately up again.

"I'm letting you have the bed, Raven, and that's final."

"Make me."

"You know I literally can."

"...So?"

Jinx held up her hands. "Oh, so that's how you're gonna play our little heartfelt promise regarding orders, is it?"

Raven looked smug. Jinx grinned right back. Smug was better than angry, and the sting from the encounter with Mad Mod and the Titans was clearly fading. The lights flickered, and her grin vanished. "Are you sure you're okay, Raven? You seemed to have a little trouble with your meditation."

"I'll be fine."

Jinx frowned. Her pride had been admirable before, but this was just her being stubborn. "Don't do that, Raven. Your day wasn’t exactly rosy at the end. If you have an issue, let's talk it out and maybe help solve it. I don't want accidents in my room while I'm sleeping."

"...I'll probably be fine," Raven amended, daring Jinx with her eyes to push it.

Jinx sighed. "Fine. Whatever. We're taking tomorrow off anyway. No excursions, no trips, nothing. If there's an issue, resolve it then." Jinx abandoned the futon, letting it unroll itself limply on the floor, and placed the rubied cane in a temporary spot next to the magical top hat on her shelf instead, arranging it to her liking. She felt Raven's eyes on her back as she adjusted the shelf.

No, today had not been rosy for her at all.

Jinx went over to her bed, making Raven scoot away a little, and lay down. As confident as she had sounded, Mad Mod had, despite everything, managed to put doubts in her head, and once she started doubting one thing she tended to doubt all of them.

Take Raven. Raven filled her with a lot of doubts. They seemed to get along, but was Raven just humoring her captor? They'd been like this for four days. For one and half of them, they'd been at each other's throats. Then they'd shared a little experience, and then gone out once for a chat and lunch. And sure there'd been touching and blushing, but they'd been talking about very personal topics and neither of them was used to that kind of touching, so that's just what you expected. Maybe it was just all in her head, the idea that there was anything going on, anything deeper. They were moving way too fast for that. Just the wishful thinking of an idiot teenage girl dreaming about a better life she'd never have, not even having realized she liked people both ways before, let alone whether Raven did. It was unrealistic to expect something. And if something came of it between her and someone who was essentially her prisoner, was she really better than-

"...What are you thinking about, Jinx?"

Jinx opened her eyes. "Nothing."

Raven sighed. "So much for talking out our problems."

"Why do you think I have problems? I'm just lying here with my eyes closed."

Raven looked a little guilty, and Jinx immediately felt suspicious "What, can you read my mind or something?"

"...Not exactly."

Jinx sat up, looking squarely at Raven. "Normally you wouldn't have to qualify that answer, Sunshine."

Raven didn't meet her gaze. "Do you know what an empath is?"

Jinx blinked. "Emotion reader. I wasn't just imagining it?"

"...Imagining what?"

"You really can sense what I'm feeling! I knew it!" Chalk up another one for Raven's grab-bag of talents.

Raven looked at her lap. "...Yes. And it can be... distracting."

Jinx felt a little note of panic. Had Raven sensed what she was feeling about her? Was she about to be gently but firmly rejected? "How so?"

"...I can only get impressions of what you're feeling. It's all a matter of interpretation, and most people are a little different from each other. Everyone reacts to emotional stimuli a little differently. I can usually, but not always, tell when people lie to me, for instance."

Jinx thought about it. "Okay? I guess? What's that got to do with me?"

"You're a very honest person, Jinx. I've sensed this since you first summoned me. It’s part of why I accepted your deal in the first place and… why I’ve continued to trust you."

Jinx felt a slow blush creep over her face. "Oh. Uh. Thanks?"

Raven pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, I'm not even sure how to explain this. It takes time to learn to interpret someone properly, but here goes. You're in some kind of conflict with yourself, and you're not used to it because you tend to face things head on with all your attention and without self-deception rather than stewing on them, and it's like your turmoil is screaming in my ear."

"Oh. Is that why you couldn't meditate properly?"

"...No. I can usually shut those impressions out during meditation. I'm just... worried for you."

Jinx smiled. "Aw, thank you. If I was the hugging type, I'd probably be hugging you for that right now."

"I'm not good at being supportive. And I'm bad at hugs. Starfire would have been the better summon for that."

"Let me guess. You weren't hugged a lot as a child?"

"...Rude."

Jinx grinned. "Yeah, me neither. Guess that's another thing we have in common."

Raven looked at her. "I'd still like you to feel better."

"Did you help every hurt animal you found as a kid or something?"

"...Not a lot of those in Azarath. And not a lot of animals who like me in general."

"Their loss." Jinx sat up next to Raven. "You know, I’d like you to feel better about what happened today too, and there's only one real way to get better at things, and that's practice."

She put her arms around Raven and held her awkwardly. "This is probably going to go better if you hug me back,” she said after a bit.

Raven did so, slowly. And it was awkward. But Jinx didn't much mind, and Raven didn't either.

"I'm... not used to hugs being this nice. Starfire's the only hugger in the Tower, and her hugs have been known to hospitalize people. I'm not even sure we're doing this right."

"I think as long as we both like it, it's right. And if it's not right, screw'em. They can't tell us what to do."

"...There's that nebulous 'They' again, now policing our hugs. Are you sure you're not paranoid?"

"Who told you to ask me that?" Jinx couldn't hold her exaggerated paranoid expression for long as Raven actually chuckled at her.

Jinx took a chance and lifted her legs into Raven's lap, hugging her more closely, letting her head fit in the crook of Raven's neck. Raven didn't push her off, which she took as a positive sign. She practically felt her back unclenching, releasing tension she hadn't known was there.

"Thanks for today, Raven. Lunch, shopping, beating up an imperialist shithead, ice cream and hugs. It's been an okay day."

"...So you feel better now?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do. And I hope you do too, Sunshine. You really should put yourself first more.”

Raven's arms tightened a little around Jinx, and she sighed, pleased. That was all the answer she needed. She might not know if Raven really felt strongly about her, and Raven might not know how to interpret what she was putting out, but she was going to enjoy this anyway. Maybe enjoy it a bit much, if the warmth she was feeling was any indication.

Then the ceiling light exploded, raining glass on the partially unrolled futon. Jinx lit the nightstand lamp, and they both stared at the shattered fixture, then at the now unusable bedroll.

Jinx sighed. "Okay, I guess we're sharing the bed again."


	10. Mood Swings

As it turned out, even after a restful sleep, Raven was not fine.

Light fixtures were the first problem, the gang eventually just removing the bulbs themselves and relying on candles and flashlights. Then Gizmo had to vacate his workshop entirely and unplug all of his computers and monitors, to keep them from either frying or showing weird "demonic-lookin’ nonsense", as he put it. Mammoth had tried to make his usual "all the leftovers plus a lot more" morning smoothie in the custom giant blender and the blender had first fried itself out, then spat out the contents all over the kitchen, then kept spewing more than had been put into it in the first place until Jinx had hexed it apart.

It was when Raven's powers began affecting things that weren't even electronic that they really started having trouble. Billy opened the door to his room and had fallen into a void that had somehow appeared behind it, being saved only by Billy grabbing him before he fell. On closing and reopening the door, his room had reappeared. He had not stepped back inside it since. Jinx had flushed a toilet only to have it start shouting strange garbled messages in what sounded like a horribly deep voice before turning into a brief waterspout, and the exercise equipment she used for daily practice ambled to life and fought back when she tried to use it. And when Raven had tried to end her meditation peacefully, Mumbo's hat had flown off its shelf, depositing a ribbon of handkerchiefs which tied her upside down to the ceiling.

And yet, through all that, Jinx could not get Raven to tell her what in the world was wrong. The boys had not even dared to approach her after Billy had been teleported into the harbor for trying, although Gizmo had kept up what had to be his longest constant stream of immature insults ever in her earshot. By the time noon hit, all the boys had gone to various safehouses while Jinx stubbornly stayed with Raven.

As they entered the afternoon, Jinx, having had to battle her way through a collection of apparently sentient predatory school desks which emerged from somewhere far below in the abandoned HIVE tunnels just so she could have a snack, had enough.

"Raven. Tell me what's wrong, or I will command you to tell me. I've already given you way too much leeway."

Raven kept her eyes closed, her hair and costume matted with sweat. "A-Azarath, Metrion, Z-zinthos..."

"I mean it."

Raven shook a little, opened her eyes, and relented. "...this would be so much easier with the Void Room."

"The wha?" asked Jinx.

"Cyborg built a room which can nullify my powers temporarily in the Tower for... similar reasons to this. I don't know how it works. I deliberately don't want to know, in case I'd find a way to circumvent it, because I may need to be contained some day. Mad Mod used something similar on me."

"Yeah? Well, I can't really walk up to the Tower and ask our super-neighbour for a cup of the Void Room."

"I’m saying maybe Gizmo can find something-"

"He tried. Didn't you notice some of the stuff he was doing with those energy fields?"

"...No. Which means he wasn't even close."

"How about just talking to me, Raven. Tell me why this is happening."

Raven's eyes widened. Oddly enough, from somewhere, a voice sounding exactly like Raven's spoke without Raven's lips moving, and she seemed to actually shrink inside her cloak, which for a moment seemed to have become grey.

"Nooooo..."

Jinx stared. "...What."

Just like that, however, Raven was back to her normal size, her cloak regaining its usual color. "...Ah. I see. I understand now."

"...What."

"Listen. For reasons I can't go into right now, there exists a portal into my mind."

"...Whaaaat." Was Jinx accidentally on something? She'd tried some things, in her lowest moments of her old life, but this was way weirder.

"If we can somehow get access to my room in the Tower, we-" Raven suddenly stopped and her throat... constricted. As if someone were holding it in a vice-like grip. She floated into the air, choking for breath.

Jinx moved into action, some base instinct making her cast a hex bolt into the empty air in front of Raven. It struck... something. Something which growled horribly, invisibly, with frustration. Raven hit the floor hard, and Jinx went over to her, helping her up and holding her close. Raven was trembling, unnerving Jinx.

"What the hell was that, Raven?" She yelled, which made Raven flinch, but she didn't feel like she could moderate her tone right now.

"I-I have to be contained. I can’t keep this up."

"What? Why-"

"It's the only way to keep everyone safe!" Raven's eyes were filled with real panic, or even terror. Jinx was shocked to her core to see the composed sorceress like this.

Jinx thought of the only thing she knew could keep Raven contained. "I command you to enter the magic circle and not leave it!" she said, panicking.

Raven's body flashed an angry red, then disappeared from her hands, becoming a raven-like mass of darkness that swiftly flew downstairs.

Jinx held her breath for a few moments. She looked around the room, checked the base, checked the rooms. Whatever had been causing all the problems seemed to have gone into remission for now. For some reason, she was deeply afraid to see if Raven was alright, but she wanted nothing more.

"What the actual hell have I gotten myself into?" she muttered as she descended the stairs down below. The staircase looked strange, elongated, triggering several bouts of vertigo in her. The closer she got to the summoning room, the odder everything was. She thought back to that first night with Raven in her bed, the spatial distortions all around her. Jinx realized Raven had had trouble meditating that night, too. She also thought back to how Raven had attacked the circle’s perimeter in a way no run-of-the-mill demon could have. It was possible that the circle really wasn’t able to hold her at bay forever because it wasn’t made for her. By all indications, her uncontained power was leaking through already.

Whatever it was she needed to do to help Raven, she obviously had limited time to do it.

When she entered the room, all was normal inside it. Except, of course, for the impenetrable darkness inside the circle itself. That looked all too familiar. She stood closer, crossing her arms defiantly.

Four glowing red eyes, each as large as a human, opened within the darkness, staring back at her.

"You came," said Raven's voice, echoing strangely.

"...Yeah?" Jinx didn’t even know how to respond to this.

"You frustrate me, witch. You poke at me. Annoy me. Make insinuations at me to confuse me. Entrap me. Command me. BIND me. You VEX me, HEXER."

At the final word, the circle's protection buckled again, as Raven had done before. Whatever power was at work here didn't merely try to penetrate it; it formed it, shaped it, into the form of massive teeth in a slavering jaw which rushed at Jinx's throat.

Jinx didn't move an inch.

The jaw moved at lightning speed towards her throat. Just as it seemed like it would clamp into her jugular, it stopped, and the now-familiar angry red script from Raven's body flared in the dark. It didn't hold a human shape; instead, the runes filled the darkness itself, as if it were Raven’s body now.

Despite herself, Jinx felt an incredible thrill, a sensation of danger stronger than anything she'd ever experienced. A thrill which, in its new and heightened state and from this source, reached and affected her in ways she'd probably never admit out loud to anyone. She smiled, her body trembling a little. 

"You're bound, remember? Can’t hurt me at all. Thank you for reminding me."

Raven's echoing voice spoke, faltering. "You... you are afraid. I can sense it. But your fear... It... My anger excites you..."

Oh. Right. Raven was an empath. Jinx had the decency to blush. "Whoops. Hey, you said everyone’s different, right?"

The jaw retracted, the darkness coalescing, becoming smaller and smaller until it once again took Raven's shape, but it wasn't the Raven Jinx knew. This thing which wore Raven's shape stood defiant, aggressive, four red eyes glowing from within a red hood. Whatever this thing was, it was terribly dangerous.

As she watched, it morphed further, losing the four eyes, the cloak becoming more of a lilac color. Two regular eyes opened, and the new Raven - for that was the only way Jinx could think of her - opened her hood and swung her cloak aside, leaning seductively against the barrier, looking at Jinx over her shoulder with her entire body on display for the pinkette's benefit.

"My, my. If she of all things makes you hot under the collar, I wonder what I could do to you?"

"Anything you want," Jinx replied before she could shut herself up. This wasn't at all how Raven usually acted, but seeing it from Raven pushed all her buttons, including ones she didn't know she had. "As long as you're named Raven still, of course. Are you?"

The lilac-clad 'Raven' laughed, a full-on throaty and seductive laugh which sounded absurd coming from Raven, but exciting at the same time. "Call me Desire... or anything else which pleases you. I know that the red one pleased you. Why don't you come closer so we can learn more of what pleases us both? Raven is a very curious creature, but so very... timid."

Jinx almost did. Oh, she very almost did. "I'd rather see Raven."

Desire smiled knowingly through lidded eyes. "That might be... hard, at the moment." Jinx nearly groaned at that pun, and not just from how bad it was. "But if it's any consolation, hearing you say that..."

Desire's form morphed further, the color of the cloak fading to pink this time. This new raven smiled the widest smile Jinx had seen from the sorceress, her eyes large and joyful.

"...makes me feel really Happy!! Which you can call me by the way. Or Joy. Or Exuberance! Oh! OH!! EXHILERATION!! I like ALL of those!"

Jinx was utterly, completely confused. "Okay, so, don't take this the wrong way, but you're the scariest one yet. What's going on, Happy? What's happening to Raven?"

"Oh, Raven is a big scaredy-poo right now, so she might be hard to reach, but I'm part of her! We all are!! We are the emoticlones!!"

"The... what?"

"That's the name Beast Boy found for us. Like Emoji! But clones!! Isn't it cute? He makes me laugh. We're Raven's emotions made manifest! Woo!" This Raven did cartwheels, somehow not getting caught up in her own cloak, around the perimeter of the circle.

If Jinx thought learning about Raven's powers was weird before, it had nothing on what she was feeling right then. "Is there a more technical term?"

"Oh, Knowledge says we're called 'Aspects'. Just between you and me, though," Happy whispered conspiratorially, "she actually represents Raven's fear, especially of the unknown, so she's always trying way too hard!! Raven covers her fear with that knowing attitude of hers pretty hard, though, so if you need a nerd she's the one to call. If you see yellow, you'll know her!"

Aspects. That was a magical term Jinx understood. The appearance of something to the mind's eye, the individual interpretation of the facets of truth, the aspects of the planets... and the aspects of gods. She had a sudden thought, recalling Raven's shrinking from earlier. "Is there a grey one of you?"

"Yep!! We call her Timid. She's Raven's depression and insecurities. Raven is with her right now, actually. Very sad. No fun at all. An’ because Timid is so good at hiding an’ shutting the entire world out, Raven can’t hear you while she’s there and can’t know when it’s okay to come back out. She can’t even hear any orders you'll give her!”

Jinx shuddered. Raven did know how to shut out everything, she knew that already, but the idea of being trapped in that state was terrifying. And now one possible avenue for controlling the situation was closed. "Can I reach her through you? Seeing Raven would..." she chose her words carefully. "...make me very happy."

"Aw, can't we be pinkie besties instead for a bit? You make Raven pretty happy too you know." Hearing that made Jinx pretty happy too, as it happened. Before Jinx could even reply, Happy smiled and kept going. "Oh, I know. You want to know if Raven is safe. But that just makes her an’ me feel happier, so Happy is here to stay!!"

Well. That was going to get complicated fast. "And are there more of you? Who are the others?"

"Wellllllll, you've seen half of us. There's Hangry who doesn't like it when I call her that, an' Desire who is really Passion but she chose that name because it made you all hot, an' there's ME!!, an' Timid, an' Knowledge, so that just leaves Brave, Sloth and Rude. Eight of us!!"

"Uh... huh. How is 'Rude' an emotion?"

"Well, uh, hm!! I haven't really thought about that. She's dismissive, an' inconsiderate, an' selfish, an' always tells Raven to not get involved and mind her own business. Basically, whenever you hear Raven being sarcastic or making a joke at someone's expense, that's her letting Rude out to play a little. She's made you laugh and making you laugh makes Raven happy, so I'll allow it even though she's a meany. So Hangry she's Hurious is red, Knowledge is Yellow, an’ the combination of annoyance and cleverness is wit, and therefore she is Orange! Hey, that made sense! Yay!!" Happy cavorted and danced a little from having apparently figured this out. Jinx thought she could sense a slight yellowing edge to her cloak and had an idea.

"How about Brave?"

"She's a green, lean, mean, killin' machine! Hoo-rah and all that stuff!! Not much else to her. She gets real full of herself an’ never, ever knows when to stop."

The cloak shifted to yellow just a little bit further as her explanation went on. "And Sloth?"

"She's brown."

"...And?"

"Just brown."

"What, is that all you know?"

"Well I mean", Happy started, "What's there really to talk about. She's... Hmm..." As Happy spoke, her cloak slowly changed color, changing from pink to yellow. This one simply sat cross-legged in midair, as Raven liked to do, and adopted a slightly lecturing tone. From somewhere, glasses appeared on her nose.

"Sloth is, among many other things, Raven's indecision and resignation, plus certain odd habits which she for various reasons has inherited and has no desire to ever indulge. She is perhaps Raven's by far most repressed impulse, but she's Sloth and therefore doesn't resist that repression at all. Hello, Jinx. I prefer to be called Knowledge, although it seems Happy has taken matters into her overexcitable hands this time."

"Knowledge it is." Jinx smiled. "Sorry, but those glasses are just adorable on you."

Knowledge smiled, but shook her head. "Keep that up only if you want to let Passion out to play again. You were trying to reach me, were you not?"

Jinx very much repressed the urge to let Desire out, especially to learn more about that hint of Raven's feelings for her, and got down to business. She ignored the question of why she preferred Desire as her name. "Okay, I'm going to need to know pretty much everything about what's happening to Raven."

Knowledge adjusted her glasses. "No, you don't. But I'll tell you everything you do need, since it is urgent."

Jinx glared. "Hey, don't you start getting Rude if you want to stay."

"Ah. Good point. Apologies." She smiled again. "Raven does so enjoy your wit. Let's see..."

The inside of the magic circle shifted and morphed, and Jinx saw an incredibly beautiful place. Great white columns holding up shining white buildings of smooth stone or glass. Citadels perched on floating rocks suspended in midair. Fields of greenery, grown by workers who seemingly made them grow by song alone. And everywhere, all over, were what Jinx could only refer to as monks. All races and genders, finding expression in a multitude of ways, living in harmony, working as one, many in robes of white, others in green, pinks or soft blues.

"That's Azarath", said Jinx. She knew it instantly.

"Indeed. And Raven's current condition began on Azarath. For reasons that are immaterial to our current predicament, Raven has suffered a certain condition, one might say, since her birth. It is the condition which led her to abandon Azarath to save it. It is also the condition which indirectly birthed us, the Aspects."

The image of Azarath changed, and within a great circle was an eight-pointed star, eight times eight monks - Jinx somehow knew, without counting - standing to attention at each point, a huge throng all chanting as one. A tiny Raven, just a tiny, adorable little girl in robes of dark indigo who Jinx just wanted to pick up and hug forever, sat at the center. Jinx was struck by how her robes were different from everyone else's. She sat in a perfect lotus with her eyes closed, but seemed scared.

"There are eight aspects in her mind, and the center point represents us united in her - the form you know as Raven, for the mystic total of nine. The monks performed this ritual to shatter her mind."

"Shatter?" asked Jinx. "that sounds kind of horrible, not to mention creepy."

"It resulted in the Raven you know. How horrible and creepy is that?"

Jinx glared. "Okay, point, but it still sounds awful."

"Regardless," said knowledge, raising one eyebrow. "Raven's emotional state after that day was safer for everyone involved. The monks constructed tools for her as well, to help manage her nature. The first is her own Lens of Azar, which focuses one's power outward, a common object worn by in particular by Azarathi farmers, craftsmen and sorcerers. Raven's nature seemed to be a good fit for sorcery, much like her mother. The other was a mirror, to focus her power inward, an extremely uncommon object indeed."

The image of the monks faded and morphed into the image of a small hand mirror, its edges spiked, adorned with a red gem of its own at the top and another where the mirror met the handle. "This object allows Raven access to a dimension which, thanks to her becoming fond of Earth's poetry, she now calls Nevermore. It is a dimension, but it is also her mind, and there she can visit us, restrain us or call upon us in relative safety in case we need to be managed. Which, as you might have observed, we now do."

"And why do you?"

The image within the circle cleared away completely. "Raven did not wish you to know, but you should. You may have observed that none of the Aspects, though several are traditional sins, encompass her pride. That emotion, that flaw, is hers to her very core. Your binding and recent encounters with her friends took a severe emotional toll on her which in her pride she refused to acknowledge in the healthy manner she required despite her frustration with your own pride's inability to do the same, and this led to the eventual and total dissolution of her control. You two are a potentially volatile combination, I must say. The complication you now represent to her only reinforced her pride; seeking your approval, respect or admiration, she does not wish to show or admit to you her weaknesses, insecurities or vices. And since her failure tends to make her angry at herself, well, you saw how that affected her."

"Brings a new meaning to the phrase ‘stop hitting yourself’, sure." Jinx hesitated. "How... complicated, am I to her?"

Knowledge lowered her glasses and looked into Jinx’s eyes over their brim. "I know what you're fishing for, even if Raven would not consciously know herself, and I'm not giving it to you."

"Oh come on."

"Partly, though I am loath to admit it, because she does not fully know herself, yet, and therefore I do not know either. And partly because telling you what I do know would resurface the other emotions she has associated most with you, rather than the ones that are useful."

"Oh, she associates desires with me, does she?"

"Please try to restrain yourself. There is more you need to know, and your emotions inflame Raven's as well." The slight lilac hue on Knowledge's cloak was all the warning she needed.

"Hah. Okay, sometime else then. I hope."

Knowledge glared at Jinx over her glasses, her cloak becoming dangerously purple.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Wow. So Raven needs this mirror, and I need to help her with something. What's that about?"

Knowledge's cloak returned to a solid state, brighter than even the walls, and nodded. "First, you will need to retrieve the mirror from her room in Titan Tower without looking into it. You must then look deeply within it in a safe location near her to physically enter Nevermore, preferably with assistance from someone else she cares for to insure your safety, and locate her current emotional state. Since you saw her weakness, her pride was shattered and thus she has involuntarily retreated to her insecurities, the one we call Timid. From there, you must assist her in restoring order; she will tell you what she needs. As well, it might be prudent to retrieve all the books from her second-to-topmost shelf if you get the opportunity."

Jinx blanched a little. "Okay, just break into the Tower, sure, no problem, except for the fact that it's the freaking Tower. Then I recruit one of the Titans to help me. Then I'll handle a mirror. Do you have any idea what my powers do to mirrors?"

"I do have some ideas. I am less sure that you understand your powers so well."

"Excuse me?" Jinx felt a little offended.

"Raven has been observing your abilities intently for some time. She has several theories which are thus far incomplete, but all of them lead her to the inevitable conclusion that you, for whatever reason, don't know everything you are capable of, or have even been misled as to your potential. She has not brought this up with you before because she deeply respects your autonomy and pride, and also because she would like to have something solid to go on first."

Jinx grimaced. She was not at all pleased. "I've lived with my powers all my life. I know them plenty well, thank you."

Knowledge closed her eyes and inclined her head. "Raven has lived with hers all her life, and every year she learns more despite the fact that she is mortally afraid of them. I am both her fear, and the representation of how she faces her fear. How she attempts to deal with most of her fears; by trying to understand them."

"Are you trying to say she's afraid of me?" Jinx felt a chill in her gut.

"I'm saying she's trying to decide if she is, or should be, or whether she simply fears what you represent in her life at the moment. The circumstances she has been forced into are extraordinary. Is she wrong to feel a little anxious and over-analyze it?" She sighed. "I have said too much, of course. I tend to do that."

"Well maybe she was right about not saying anything about my damn powers in the first place, then. Did you even think about that?" Jinx felt her irritation building up to actual anger, especially when fuelled by the pang of well-deserved guilt.

Knowledge held up a placating hand. "Yes. This reaction is, in fact, exactly the kind of thing she feared she would hear. But  I must stress that she is also not the one who said it to you. I am part of her, but I am not her. Please try not to judge her by what I have said, or indeed, what any of the Aspects have said. There is a reason she suppresses our influence on her, just like any other person suppresses their urges. Imagine if you gave in to every urge in your head. Your friend is... not herself, right now. And she sorely needs your help."

Jinx forced herself to cool down. It wasn't like she hadn't been afraid of being gently rebuffed, let alone almost shouted at. And any part of Raven calling Jinx her friend did forgive a lot. But she also had a feeling this conversation wasn't over.  "Fine. Moving on. What do I need to know to breach the tower?"

"You cannot do it all by yourself. You will need Gizmo's expertise, at least, and it may be prudent to consult the rest of your team. Bring them here, coax me out again, and then we can form a plan."

"Look," Jinx said, "she needs this pretty quickly, right? What if one of you finds a way to actually escape the circle? We don't have a lot of time. I'll take the risk for her and finish it quickly if you just give me the essentials."

The yellow began to fade into green. "I was afraid of this..." but before she could finish her sentence, the green overtook her completely, her glasses fading away.

The new form was unlike all the others so far. Green cloak, certainly, but the hood was nearly missing. This 'Raven' wore army fatigues and sported combative bracers, as well as what looked like strips of camouflage on her cheeks and a headband. "But who cares! No matter what, you're going to go there to kick ass and take names, so why not just do it!"

"And you would be... Brave?"

"Hell yeah!" she said. "I'm pure confidence, baby!" Jinx already didn't like this one as much as the others, although maybe more than Knowledge. Brave did a few mock punches and kicks. They were form-perfect martial arts. With Raven's physical strength, any of those landing would be dangerous. She wondered if Raven didn't use physical combat much to keep the wildly overconfident emotion in check. 

Brave finished her impromptu set and stood with her hands on her hips. "Just go there and kick the door open, get what you need, and get out fast!"

"You know, on second thought, I'll go in with a plan. Unusual for me, I know."

"Aw, come on! Raven loves how confident you are! Even when you're just fronting! She wishes she could be half as cocky as you! She's never brave enough to admit it, so I'm doing her a favor!"

Jinx blushed, despite the mixed compliment. Okay. Maybe she liked Raven's Bravery too after all. "Okay, but I also only get one shot at this, and I better make it work."

"Hey, no pressure! Didn't that scaredy-cat Knowledge say you needed your buddies? Hate to say it, but that's not a bad plan when you gotta Kick! Some! Ass! Go get them and then worry about getting ol' yellow-belly out!"

"Will Raven be fine for now?"

"Hey, don't sweat it! I know you can do it! Hoo-rah!"

  
  
  
  
  


Coaxing the boys back into the hideout wasn't easy, and coaxing them down the stairs was much harder, and not just because of their reluctance; the way was even more warped and non-euclidean than before, at times bringing to mind Mad Mod's concept of a school. Once they were finally all in front of the door, she gave them the rundown.

"Okay, remember, whoever you see in there isn't really Raven. Her powers have just gone out of whack, and we're here to make a plan to straighten her out."

Billy winked. "I'd have thought makin' her more straight was the last thing you'd want, Boss-"

"Go there if you want a Billy to die, Billy."

All Billies present backed away. "Billy doesn't want that." "And Billy neither."

"And Boys... try not to be too spooked."

She opened the door, and caught a glimpse of grey in the circle. Almost as soon as she saw it, it disappeared with a sad little moan.

"Donnnn't..."

Before Jinx could even react to the apparition that was Timid, the bright pink and bubbly Happy emerged instead.

"HI JINXIE-POO!! I'm so HAPPY to see you! And you brought the guys, Yay!"

Gizmo took one look at this and turned around. "Yeah, nope. Nope. Nope. Nuh-uh. Nope."

Jinx grabbed him by the collar and turned him right around. "Come on, this one's actually one of the safe ones."

"Safe? For who? This is the scariest I've ever seen Raven be!"

"Why does everyone always say that?!" asked Happy. "That's not very nice!"

While Jinx wrestled Gizmo and the suddenly dumbfounded Billy, Mammoth stepped to the magic circle and put his fist right across the perimeter.

"Wait! Mammoth! Don't!" She was safe from Raven, but none of the others were!

"HELLO, Mam!" said Happy and bumped his fist. "You're nice to Raven! That makes her pleased as punch!!"

Mammoth retracted his fist and nodded. "I like her. Can we keep her?"

The other three HIVE members looked at him in shock, then sheepishly walked into the room. "Baran," said Jinx, "Please don't come too close to the circle again, okay?"

The boys settled down and, with bubbly if dubiously useful input from Happy, were quickly appraised of the situation - with some editing on Jinx's part where things got a little personal, that is.

"Hang on," said Billy. "So these are Raven's emotions and urges and whatnots, right? And she suppresses 'em to keep control, right?"

"Yeah, why?" said Jinx.

"Why suppress this lil' ball o' pink fluff at all? Seems to me like she could do with a lot more o' this happiness in her life."

"Heeeee!!" said Happy. "That's what I keep saying! I don't even know why she wouldn't want to be like me!"

Jinx privately thought she knew why.

"Yeah, see? I like this lil' cuddly darlin'. This is the kinda Raven I'd ask for a dance!" He did his best finger-gun pose at Happy.

"Ooh!!" Happy stamped her foot in the most adorable way and frowned, her pink cloak deepening closer to red. "No, Billy, Raven doesn't like it when you call her that or say those things to her. Not. At. All. If she heard that, she'd have to do something to make her happier again, like crunching an’ squeezing you until there isn't any blood or bone left in you!" She smiled again, her cloak returning to its full hot pink. "Yeah! That might work!!"

Billy froze in his pose, his eyes widening with slowly dawning horror.

Gizmo got up to leave. "Nope. Nope. Nuh-uh."

Jinx reached over and sat Gizmo down. "Has any one of us never thought of doing that? Even Billy wants to kick Billy's ass most of the time. Just think of this as Raven without the filter that stops us from doing that."

"Is that supposed to make me WANT to sit down again, Jinx? Are you snot-sniffin' nuts? You've seen what she can do!"

"Look, I got this. Let me just switch her around a bit. Hey Happy, can you give me some very cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse?"

"Ooh!! I can do cheer!! but uhm, hm, there's like an angle..."

The boys stared as the pink cheery 'Raven' slowly transformed into a studious yellow one with glasses and a book under her arm, who raised an eyebrow at Jinx. "Really, Jinx? Raven hasn't even seen that comedy."

Jinx grinned. "Hey, if it works. I'm still waiting on those cheerful facts, too."

"Pythagoras was a cult leader and all around weirdo, which I suppose counts. If you want more, you’ll just have to make sure Raven sees the full production later.”

"If it makes fun of posh Brits I'm all for it. Boys, say hi to Knowledge. She's going to help us make a plan."

Mammoth waved. "Hi, Knowledge." She acknowledged him with a nod.

Gizmo looked very much like he wanted to Nope out of the room again, but composed himself. "Okay, four-eyes, I'm gonna need more technical specs than Raven gave me last time if this thing's gonna work."

"Sure thing, peabody." A creeping orange tone threatened to overtake the yellow.

"Rein in the insults, Gizmo, we need her to stay focused or else she just shifts again."

"Aw, come on! They're my whatchacallit. Defense mechanism against your weirdo girlfriend. Don't take that away!"

Jinx did her absolute best to suppress her emotions from thinking of Raven as her 'girlfriend.' The last thing she needed was for the boys to meet Desire. "Stow it and focus on the job, or else we're not gonna have a base for much longer! And someone unfreeze Billy, he's starting to creep me out!"

  
  
  
  
  


"This plan's ridiculous, Boss." Jinx's earpiece was, fortunately, not connected to Gizmo, or else she'd have had nothing but a constant Gizmo freestyle snot-and-pit insult show over how terrible this entire idea was. It was a rare day that having Billy in your ear was an upgrade.

"Yeah, but I kinda love it." She adjusted her goggles and the padded suit she was wearing over her normal costume, testing straps and getting used to her gloves. "I mean, I've never done anything like this before!"

"That's part of why it's ridiculous. You ain't even had trainin' with that thing. Bad enough that y'all are goin' at it alone."

"Hey, I trust Knowledge and her analysis. It was tight. Too late to chicken out now."

"Well, I done tried. Check in once you got your air on. Billy Out."

It hadn't taken long to formulate the actual plan. The equipment had been a little more time consuming, especially after Gizmo had finally gotten excited and decided standard civilian grade wasn't good enough. Right now it was almost time for dinner, turning out to be pretty good timing, because dinnertime was held very regularly at the Tower. Robin kept his crew on a tight and organized schedule.

Approach from sea was out. Unpredictable, difficult, slow, impossible not to be spotted on the surface, plus the island was ringed by a net of hidden sonar detectors and other sensors. Apparently the Tower could even spot stealth submarines from the major world powers without any real trouble, which was a bit shocking, especially with how many Knowledge told them were really prowling international waters.

Approach from land was fraught. Sure, they could just use the tunnel. They had figured out where it was, in fact. But laser turrets, net throwers, electromagnetic pulse generators and even batarang shooters put the damper on that idea, nevermind how it would alert the Titans. But Knowledge had pointed out what the Titans had in abundance that most of their foes didn't.

Three of the five Titans could fly, plus they had access to a plane. It was obvious when you said it, even more obvious when you fought them or saw them patrolling the city from the sky, but wasn't really something anyone thought about that hard. And the clear tactical advantage their superior air power brought to their fights was obvious once it was pointed out, too. It was why most of the vaguely clever villains tried to lure them to confined spaces to fight in. But all of that combined meant that the Tower wasn't nearly as heavily defended from the air as it was in other ways. Why bother, when Starfire could shoot down an intruder with a starbolt, Beast Boy could seize them in his talons, or Raven could catch an approaching plane and individually unscrew every nut and bolt in it at her leisure if she felt like it? Any super-dedicated anti-air defenses would simply pose an increased risk to their own team's most major players, and so they were kept light.

And even more pertinently, with Raven locked in her magic circle, the Titans were down a third of their regular air defense. That was the clincher that led to this moment.

Jinx hefted the Gizmofied gas-propelled stealth-coated hang glider in her hands from atop her perch on the tallest building in Jump City, The Wayne Enterprises corporate building for most of the West Coast, and aimed herself at the Tower. For a moment, she wondered if this was what Batman felt like every night. Then she ran at the edge and jumped.

The danger of her luck making something break or misfire, the height, the importance of the mission and the sheer unfamiliar sensation of glider-borne flight combined to create an almost unmatched thrill. She was still in the city, so she didn't even try to resist the urge to yell in exhilaration.

She clicked the comm in her year and checked in. "Jinx is airborne, boys. Direct me!"

On top of another building, a Billy was waving at her. "Fly right at Billy!", said Billy in her ear. "That's where Knowledge said the first big updraft was."

Gliding across the bay on nothing but two pairs of ultralight compressed air canisters was nonsense, and the tallest building in Jump itself only barely beat the big T - her airtime was limited. But Raven had flown all over Jump City in her time as a hero, and the three flying Titans had long since learned to take advantage of anything they could get. Knowledge knew every draft, every whorl, every upward flow of air and when it would be active, and had directed them to send a Billy to mark those points for Jinx since they couldn't risk putting a tracker on her to guide her - the Tower would simply detect the electronic signal.

It occurred to Jinx that Raven would be a scary criminal mastermind. This plan was mad genius of the exact kind she loved.

She glided over towards the first Billy and caught a major updraft, guiding the glider upwards and onwards. She flew further out into the city, catching another major one. The second Billy lay down with a bunch of himself, forming an arrow to correct her course by. By the time she reached the third Billy she was so high up that he was like a tiny red speck. Billy multiplied, forming a Billy pyramid which pointed her towards the right way to go. One more updraft, and she flew freely over into the bay itself.

"Leaving comms range now. I'll be back in time for the late night news. Jinx out!"

Now it was all up to her.

She thumbed the hidden controls in the glider, activating the first pair of compressed air canisters. They shot her forward and upwards precipitously before disengaging themselves, dropping behind her into the icy water below. If she was just a little bit lucky, she'd now catch the evening airflow following the shifting tide. She did and cheered again - silently, this time.

It was this final stretch that would prove whether she could make it. Knowledge hadn't been able to calculate it, and Gizmo hadn't been optimistic. As he'd put it, she'd have a tiny chance if everything else somehow came together perfectly, and then gave her the odds of that happening.

Astronomical. Just how she liked it. She brought up her hand to the choker on her neck, fingering the outline of the lucky silver dollar on it. Astronomical was what she lived by.

She had no good way of gauging when the second pair of air canisters would be most effective. But something Knowledge had said had stuck with her. 'Just do it when it feels especially right.' She was an annoying know-it-all, and had refused to explain that, but it was the only advice Jinx had to go on.

Something felt exactly right, and she pressed the button without thinking. The canisters fired their payload and flew off the glider. The Tower was getting closer and closer. Now she just had to stick the landing. She came at it from an angle, hoping to circle it at least once to slow herself down and not hurt herself in the process.

A sudden change in air pressure put paid to that plan, and her stomach churned as her altitude dropped. A wet drop splashed her face. She cursed. The weather report had said there was a slight chance of rainfall, and that meant a change in air pressure. A slight chance was all her luck needed to make it happen. There was no time to bleed off the excess speed now. She aimed directly for the tower. From way up, a glider always seemed to be serene and slow. Lower down, you really got a feel for how fast it was. And her altitude was almost perfectly level with the lip of the Tower's roof as she approached it like a missile.

She wasn't going to make it. The realization hit her hard. She simply wasn't high up enough. She was going to hit a window and make one last pretty pink splash. Game over.

Somehow, something felt perfectly right about it again. She closed her eyes. Her stomach lurched and she felt the glider hit an updraft - not a predictable one, just a completely random bit of wind blowing her around, not a matter of charts and flight plans. Nothing but pure luck. 

She opened her eyes again, and quicky guided the glider upwards. She sailed over the lip of the Tower's roof with inches to spare. The glider went up a small ways, and she parachuted herself with it onto the tiles. She still came down hard, jarring her ankles, causing her to fall over. The glider broke a wing and she lay there, panting, for a long moment.

She'd done it. She couldn't even believe it. She slowly collected herself, checking for injuries, and then cut herself loose from the glider's wreckage. She picked it up, went over to the edge, and let it fly off into the sea below. She wouldn't be using it to get back.

Now came the really fun part.

She opened her tool belt. Suction cup climbing gear, Gizmo-enhanced as usual, built into the tips of her boots and gloves. A foldable non-rattling backpack - no noisy or creaking metal zippers to hold it closed, just clever string loops and a tiny bit of velcro, the kind she’d taught herself to make and then perfected at the Academy. One can of hairspray. Everything she needed.

The roof didn't have many cameras trained on it, just a lot around it. The same did not apply to the entrance into the building, which had so many alarms and tripwires it was a miracle it didn't go off every time a bird breathed on it. Often she'd have relied on her powers to disable them, but even if she had managed to stop the tamper alarms with her hexes - the alarms that went off if something happened to the regular alarms - there was a motion-tracking camera down the stairwell that would instantly give her away, with no way to sneak past it.

She walked over to one of the sides of the big T - the side that held Raven's room. She knew exactly how far she needed to go, which fortunately wasn't very. Raven liked the view from up high. There were cameras in the hallways, sure, but not on the outside of every window, and especially not inside in the Titans' personal rooms. She checked the time on her wrist. The Titans would now be at dinner, and dinner was a noisy, chaotic and time-consuming affair, going by Knowledge's description. Perfect.

She vaulted easily over the side and gracefully let herself down, the suction cup gloves instantly working their magic, the ones in her boots joining them easily. She hummed a tune under her breath as she climbed, and chuckled when she realized what she'd unconsciously chosen. Itsy, Bitsy Spider, climbed down the Giant T.

Very quickly, she was outside the correct room. She looked at the window's joints and focused her power, shooting a pink bolt it at it. The magnetic sensor on the windowsill and its own tamper alarm fried, and the hooks holding the window closed came loose. She easily opened it by using the suction action on her glove to pull it and crawled inside, closing the window behind her.

Raven's room. It had been a while since she had been in here. It brought back memories. Not much had changed, other than that Raven had accrued more interesting trinkets and paraphernalia since Jinx's last visit.

She stopped and stared. For some reason, there was a white bunny doll on Raven's pillow, wearing a perfect imitation of Raven's costume and cloak with big ears sticking out of holes in the hood. It even captured her sullen eyes. Jinx instantly knew she had to have it, and made it her first acquire of the night, booping its tiny nose before sticking it in her bag. She couldn't help dancing and twirling her way as she walked; the excitement of being on a solo job always got to her that way.

She eyed the closet, in which she knew was a locked box containing a magic book. She very, very much wanted to take that out and just hex it until it was ash and cinder. But she had a job to do. She opened the closet and got a couple of spare leotards, some underwear and an extra cloak for Raven. Technically not what she was here for, but it didn't hurt if Raven was staying with them. Jinx noted how little casual wear Raven had. No wonder the Titans had been so shocked to see her in a skirt. Then came the books Knowledge had talked about; into the bag they went, although she saw no correlation between the titles and their problem. Then she looked at Raven's desk.

As promised, there was the nasty-looking magic mirror. She picked it up by the handle, taking care not to look into it, and almost immediately felt an incredible urge to turn it around. She ignored it and wrapped it up in Raven's clothes, then deposited it in the bag. Better safe than sorry. 

There was not so much as a stick of lipstick in sight. Jinx felt a little pang. Raven was missing out on so many things most girls took for granted and she didn't even know it. She was going to pamper her bad as soon as she could.

That was everything she needed. Now all she had to do was get out. Sure, getting into the land tunnel from the other side was hard. When you were on this side of the defenses, it wasn't bad at all. She wouldn't even need access codes to just waltz right out, maybe borrowing one of Robin's motorcycles on the way, because the tunnel was designed to not impede the Titans in times of crisis with things like passwords. They'd assumed Robin would have changed and disabled all of Raven's codes anyway.

She walked out into the corridor, looking for the cameras. Their layout was different from her first visit, but Knowledge had an incredible memory. The first one was easy to avoid. So was the second. The third in the stairwell would be the first problem.

She unclipped the canister of hairspray from her belt, carefully sidled up to the camera, and sprayed it hard. Then she walked past it without a second thought. It just so happened that Cyborg preferred durable tech, including a type of durable camera designed to be placed outside, and cameras like that wouldn't start an alarm if fog or a bit of sleet obscured the lens. Or hairspray, if neither of those was available to a thief on a job. Not everything had to have a high-tech solution, but now she was on a clock. The instant Robin looked at a monitor and saw a foggy picture on one of the internal cameras, the jig would be up. She checked the time again. They'd be finishing dinner very soon, then cleaning the dishes. It was Robin's turn tonight according to Knowledge, so she had time. She avoided cameras where she could, quietly hopping, skipping and jumping her way, and hairsprayed the rest on her way down the Tower. She was so close she could taste it.

The only thing missing from Knowledge's list was another friend of Raven's, but she smirked to herself just thinking about it. Unless she physically stuffed Bird Boy in a sack and walked with him out of there on her back, that just wasn't happening. They'd just have to make do. She opened the darkened garage and walked in, spotting Robin's cycles in the corner. Score. She took a step.

And slipped on some spilled motor oil. She fell hard on her back, the backpack breaking her fall, and panicked.

"Oh no! No no no!" She whispered fiercely, quickly opening the backpack and unwrapping the mirror to examine it. Miraculously, it was still in one piece. She sighed.

"Hello? Is someone here?" said a feminine voice. The lights turned on.

Floating in the air, just a few feet away from Jinx, was Starfire. And she was looking directly at her.


	11. Nevermore

"You!" Starfire's eyes glowed, and her hands prepared to let loose her starbolts.

Jinx, still feeling panicked, instinctively covered her face with her arms and heard Starfire gasp.

"No! Point the mirror away from me! Why do you even have that, you fiend?"

Jinx looked at Starfire. She was flinching away, not looking directly at her. Jinx had accidentally pointed the mirror at the alien girl, and she was clearly aware of the danger of looking too deeply into it. She had bought herself some precious seconds. She grabbed her backpack and held the mirror in both hands defiantly, directing it wherever Starfire flew to try to evade it.

"Raven needs it," she blurted out, cursing silently. What a great time to just state why he was here.

Starfire stopped where she was. "Is Raven in trouble? Has one of her emotions escaped her again?"

Again? "Yeah, nah, more like all of them."

Starfire gasped. "How are you still alive?"

"You've seen that happen too, huh?"

Starfire nodded, risking glances in Jinx's direction, obviously trying to spot an opening. She frowned. "The mirror will not work for you, fiend. The land of Nevermore, which is also her mind, is deadly to those she does not trust."

"Funny," said Jinx. "She's the one who told me to fetch and use it."

Starfire stopped floating away, taking this in. "She told you this? Truly?"

"Yeah." Jinx thought. "How do you know so much? Raven keeps a lot of secrets even from you guys."

"Raven and I have often had the girl talks."

"Uh." Jinx sometimes wondered what it would be like to have another girl on her team, envying the Titans a little bit. Now she wasn't sure what the Titans' conception of girlhood even looked like. She backed up slowly towards one of Robin's motorcycles in the far corner. "Well, Raven needs my help, and I need this mirror to help her, so if you care about her, obviously you should just let me go help her. Right?"

"Does Raven have another person she truly trusts in your lair?"

Jinx kept walking backwards, glancing over her shoulder to make sure there were no more accidents. "She hasn't said. She's only told me I should do it."

"Then if you know her at all, you know the answer is no. Jinx, listen. The Nevermore is not to be entered lightly even by those she cares for. If you enter it alone, you are likely to be swallowed by it forever."

Swallowed. What a choice of words. Her mind conjured the image of the slavering eye-filled jaws from earlier that day. "I don't exactly have many options, now do I?"

"You have one," said Starfire, dissipating her star bolts. "I will go with you."

"You? Go with me?" Jinx stopped in her tracks, looking at Starfire suspiciously. "And why would I trust you? How would I know you wouldn't simply lead the other Titans to me? I can't take that risk."

"Can you risk Raven being out of control for much longer? We noticed disturbances all across the city today and fought many strange battles. We had no idea what was causing them. If Raven is loose and uncontrolled, the whole city will be in peril. Perhaps more than the city."

Well, crud. They'd been so preoccupied with their base, they hadn't checked the outside world at all. To be fair, the TV had been reciting strange backwards latin chanting until they'd unplugged it. 

Jinx swallowed. Somehow, she was actually considering it. Knowledge had said a second friend would be preferable. But she shook her head.

"I can't. I... I just can't risk that. If I'm taken in..."

She watched as Starfire, still cringing away from the mirror, unclipped her Titan communicator from her belt and put it on the floor. "On my planet, we swear our oaths by the goddess X'hal, for her sacrifice and courage, her continued guardianship of our love and honor, and as the source of our strength. I swear upon X'hal, Jinx, that I will only aid Raven and leave you in peace."

Jinx didn't think Starfire was lying, but she had no real way to tell. "Robin won't be happy."

"Robin is not often happy. I admire him greatly, but I would rather have him be disappointed in me than not aid my friend. Please, Jinx."

Jinx looked at Starfire, then lowered the mirror. "Fine. Okay. If you're going to blast me though, just do it now."

"I will not. Come. The motor cycles are too slow."

"Wha?" Jinx barely had time to catch her breath as Starfire simply flew at her, picking her up by the armpits, before rushing at top speed down the tunnel. It was disorienting.

"Hey, careful! I almost dropped the mirror!"

"I will be gentle. Tell me where to fly!" Starfire yelled, quickly adjusting her grip on Jinx to hold her around the waist. The girl's arms were like a vice wound too tight, crushing her ribs. And this was apparently her being gentle.

"Go to the north harbor! I'll figure out the rest from there." The comm in Jinx's ear clicked to life again after being out of range for the entire heist. She lifted her hand to activate it. "Jinx to base, package is safe, I repeat, package is safe. Vacate the base now."

"Hell yeah, Boss! Uh, what do you mean, vacate?"

"Leave it. All of you. And you better do it real fast. I got unexpected company with me."

  
  
  
  
  


Jinx led Starfire in by the secret entrance and took off the improvised blindfold she'd made from one of Raven's cloaks, hoping that the boys had been quick. "Mi casa es su casa, I guess. Careful, things have been coming alive in here lately."

Starfire looked around, intensely curious, while Jinx stripped off her gear and adjusted her costume. "This seems... cozy," the alien said. "Must the walls be this frightful yellow color, though?"

"Hey, did I criticize the Tower?"

"You have before." Starfire was perfectly guileless. Suspiciously so.

Jinx didn't bother arguing the point. "Raven is sealed in a magic circle below, but it could be a bit of a trip. Her powers are making things a little weird."

"Understood." Starfire floated next to Jinx as they descended the first steps, now warped and elongated to many times their original length.

"What were you doing in the garage, anyway? I planned around you all being at dinner."

Starfire's face fell. "Dinner has not been pleasant to me lately. I did not eat much and excused myself. Raven has sometimes spent her time with Cyborg in the garage, and I wished to feel close to her."

And now she would be. Lucky for her. "Yeah, she misses you guys too. For what it's worth, I don't really want to hurt her like that." She paused. "Wait, why not go to her room if you wanted that?"

"She has instructed us to enter it without permission only on pain of death, and I have already risked that too much this week."

"Hah! Figures," said Jinx. Wow, Raven and her were way too similar. Scary.

Starfire looked at her curiously. "Tell me, Jinx. Have you married Raven?"

Jinx sputtered and nearly fell down the stairs. Starfire held her steady by grabbing her arm. "What? No! Why would you even ask that?"

"She now wears a ring of metal on a neck constrictor identical to yours. Is the wearing of identical metal rings not customary in human marriage?" 

Jinx thought this one through. "No, those are rings you wear on your fingers, or sometimes toes. And not every human culture does that." Jinx had never really given any thought to how she'd prefer to be married, and now was not the time to think about getting a Bindi to match Raven's gem and dye the parting in her hair. That was a little fast even for her.

Starfire nodded. "Good. I shall not have to ask my second question."

Jinx carefully tested the next few steps. "What question would that have been?"

"I would have asked if you had forced her into marriage against her will. If so, you and I would have many unkind words."

Jinx raised her eyebrow, avoiding a step that wasn't really there. "That sounds like there's a story behind it."

"On Tamaran, love is the highest and most sacred value we hold. Unfortunately, it has often been the fate of the royal family to sacrifice their chance at personal love in favor of their love for their people in imitation of X'hal's many sacrifices. Such was to be my fate, until Raven and the other Titans helped me and exposed a terrible plot against the throne and my people."

"Whoah, hang on. You're royalty?"

"I am princess in waiting of Tamaran, queen in all but title. A regent of my appointment holds the throne in my absence."

"Why aren't you running your own planet instead of tooling around in Jump City with the rest of us losers?" Jinx quickly retracted her foot from a step that tried to bite her, and Starfire carried her over it.

"My heart is with my friends. As I said, love, including that for friends, is our highest value. While that love endures and I am needed, I will remain with them."

"Wow. No wonder you were so quick to help." Jinx was a little touched. Her band of misfits was more loyal than most teams of scoundrels, but she'd have loved to have someone this loyal at her back - not just anyone would abandon a throne like that. Raven had at least one fantastic friend in this alien. "And I guess you and Robin being a thing is also a factor?"

Starfire eeped. "Excuse me? No! He and I are not an item."

Jinx paused. That had been a remarkable little coincidence in confused alien wording. "Seriously? Girl, have you seen how he looks at you? Or how you look at him? Basically everyone in Jump who knows about you knows you're in love." Except for the more offbeat superhero shippers. Those were just weird as far as Jinx was concerned. Why get so invested?

Starfire glanced around, as if to check if the walls had ears. One actually did, but she whispered anyway. "Do you really think he has the feelings for me?"

Oh no, thought Jinx. What had she just done. "How could you not tell? He's very into you."

Starfire blushed, which looked strange with her orange skin. "He most certainly has not been inside-"

"He likes you! I said he likes you! Dang, girl!"

"Oh!" Starfire smiled a little. "If it is as obvious to strangers as you say... It is sometimes difficult to read his moods. He has many concerns and responsibilities that weigh on him, and I never wish to intrude, but-"

"If you're waiting for bird boy to confess, you'll be waiting for a while. He seems like the most repressed stick in all of the mud kingdom."

"But you think he may confess?"

Jinx shrugged, hex-bolting a stair into submission. "I mean, I guess? It will take some doing."

"...Then, I feel, it may be worth the wait." Starfire smiled, clearly pleased. "Love must proceed in its own way, and we are on Earth. Earth custom has left the ball in his enclosure, and I shall respect this for the time being."

Just go for it girl, Jinx thought to herself. "How do Tamaraneans do it?"

"There are over three hundred ways in which courtship may begin on Tamaran. Though to be fair, roughly half involve ritual combat with slight variations, such as the battle against the mutual enemy, or the fight over who gets first use of the F'hark chamber, or-"

Jinx paused, testing the air for faint vibrations in case of traps. "Violence? In dating? That doesn't sound nice."

"Even Earth couples have The Fights, yes? We are a physical people. Our battles are ritualized to ensure harmony prior to or after the hostilities." Starfire shrugged as if this explained everything.

"And what does harmony entail?"

Starfire smiled mischievously. "We are a VERY physical people."

Jinx blushed, surprised. That had been an unexpected little tidbit from Starfire, of all people. Jinx laughed, and Starfire did as well. Jinx was used to making other people feel flustered, not the other way around, but Starfire clearly wasn’t as naive as she sounded. Language difficulties could do that.

At this rate, Jinx wouldn't have many enemies left. This was less pleasant to think about than she'd have liked.

They walked further down in silence. The staircase had reach epic proportions, seemingly turning in on itself several times. Its steps now resembled great claws.

"On Tamaran," Starfire said unprompted, "forcing a courtship on someone for any reason is a crime punishable by G'hlarking. That includes forcing one on someone who cannot resist you."

Jinx stopped and looked at Starfire. The alien girl looked her directly in the eye. "And I wouldn't," she said. Jinx never wanted to be that person.

Starfire narrowed her eyes. "I do not know why Raven would trust you, Jinx. But I trust Raven. I hope I will find nothing to change my opinion for the worse."

Jinx looked away, annoyed, not willing to admit anything to an effective stranger. "Raven's been a pretty good housemate. That's all. And to be honest, this binding thing is just making things more complicated than I want them to be too." She lost nothing by admitting that.

"Raven has a big heart. Bigger than she knows, or admits."

Jinx smiled. "Yeah. She does."

"Do not abuse it." Starfire's warning didn't carry with it a threat so much as a dire portent as they finally reached the door to the summoning room.

"Here goes nothing," Jinx muttered, and opened it. The circle was once again shrouded in darkness; it seemed someone had managed to bring out Raven's Angry side before leaving this time.

"Be Careful, Starfire. She can't leave that circle yet, but she can lash out from it-" Jinx's words caught in her throat as Starfire immediately floated to the edge of the circle. No hesitation or fear at all in that girl, was there?

"Friend Raven. Are you in there?"

The darkness warped and warbled, and emerging from within it came the now familiar pink form of Happy.

"JINXIE-POO!! STARFIRE!! Wow, I am so Happy to see you!!"

Starfire blinked, floated back to Jinx, and whispered in a way that carried across the room. "This is highly unsettling. What does it mean?"

"Everyone has that reaction. This is Happy. Or Joy, or Exuberance, or-"

"It's GLORIOUS to have you, Star!!" Happy literally jumped for joy.

"Oh, X'hal, It is glorious to see you too!" Starfire said, and before Jinx could restrain her she had floated inside the circle for a hug. A hug which seemed exactly as bone-crushing as Raven had said, but Happy didn't seem to mind, instead responding in kind.

Jinx put her hand over her eyes, then just sighed and walked into the circle with them. It wasn't like it mattered at this point. "Okay, fine. Happy isn't actually Raven, just a part of Raven, so keep that in mind."

"I know," said Starfire. "Beast Boy and Cyborg encountered her once when they accidentally fell into the mirror. They have often recounted this experience during scary movie night. But any part of Raven is still my friend."

Happy huffed and stamped her foot. "SERIOUSLY. Why does everyone keep saying I'm scary?!"

Jinx rolled her eyes. "I got the mirror, so I need to know how this works. Happy, can you tell me-"

Happy put a finger on Jinx's lips, leaning in... a little too close. Jinx blushed. "Nuh-uh, I'm not falling for that again! Besides, you don't need that nerd. She said to tell you to be in the circle, put the mirror on the floor, hold hands an’ just look into it. Even I can deliver that message!!" Happy paused. "Wait, was she insulting me again? Ooh, it's hard to tell because she's not the orange one."

Star looked between Happy and Jinx several times, her eyebrows slowly rising. "You seem to be very happy that Jinx has returned."

"Jinx makes Raven Happy! Most of the time. Also a little Angry. Rude comes out to play a lot. And sometimes Passion and Sloth want to do a bunch of funny things-"

"Oh, my!" said Starfire. "I see. How interesting." Star got that mischievous look again as she looked between them.

Jinx looked at Star, annoyed. "And here you were warning me about G'hlarking earlier, whatever that is. Now you're all interested?"

"To have her be interested in you changes things considerably, Jinx. It had not occurred to me to think that Raven had a submissive tendency."

Jinx could not even begin to hide her blush. She covered her face with both hands and groaned. "Oh my God, Star. Why would you say that."

"What a great idea," said Desire in her husky voice. Star and Jinx looked at where Happy had been standing, seeing instead the deep purple hue and lidded eyes of Passion. "Raven hasn't thought of that herself, really, but I can never get her to have any fun."

"It's still wrong of me to take advantage!" said Jinx. "So wrong!"

"But you don't deny that you... Desire it," said Desire, putting her hand on Jinx's chin, gently stroking it. Jinx shivered at the contact, so gentle and so powerful. "I told you to call me Desire, because to you, that is what I am. I am her Passion, and your Desire. I am the source of Raven's empathic abilities, Jinx. I can sense more than even she consciously realizes. Read you more easily than she will let me tell her. She does not know how to interpret all of these feelings from you or how to respond to them... but I do."

Jinx summoned all her strength and put her finger on Desire's lips. "If that... happens... It has to be her. And she has to want it too. All of her. Not just me taking advantage of some part of her. Not like this. Do you understand?" She was practically trembling.

Desire smiled, almost sadly. "I know. I have sensed your pain, too." She leaned in and whispered in Jinx's ear. "But that integrity is part of why Raven likes you." She stepped back, her cloak slowly becoming pink again. "And hearing you say such things makes her Happy, so I suppose that's my cue to leave... for now. Remember me in your dreams, Jinx."

As Happy returned, doing a little dance and song, Jinx looked shamefully over at Star. The alien girl had wide eyes, grinning from ear to ear, her hands up by her chin.

"Uh. I mean." Jinx blushed, suddenly very self-conscious. "I guess you saw all that, so."

"GLORIOUS!" said Star, sweeping Jinx up in a hug. "Raven finding happiness is wonderful news!"

Jinx could barely breathe. "That's... Not... Really... Star... Crushing... Me..."

Starfire let go of her. "What is it not, Jinx?"

Jinx gasped for breath. If that was Raven's idea of a hug, no wonder she had been awkward. "I don't... the binding just makes it so wrong to me. And I can't just release her to make it right because then I'd never see her again. So I..." She didn't really know how to finish that sentence. "And I'm not even sure she's into me that much. Her emotions aren't her. I think I scare her too. We haven't figured any of this out. It's going to take time and we’re already moving way too fast. This is the first time I've even admitted any of this out loud.”

Starfire smiled at her. "If I can wait for Robin, then you and Raven can wait for each other."

"And you don't even disapprove? Star, I'm a thief. I've fought you before. I made Raven fight you!"

Starfire took Jinx's hands in her own, her touch much more delicate than her hugs. "Everyone deserves love," she said simply. "Even a thief, friend Jinx."

And there it was: Starfire had just up and declared her a friend. Jinx was in so much trouble. She looked away again. "Thanks, I guess. We should probably get started on this before anything else embarrassing happens."

Jinx retrieved the mirror and put it on the ground. She, Star and Happy took each others' hands. 

"Are you ready?" asked Jinx.

The other two nodded.

"Let's do this thing." She stared into the mirror. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a pair of infinitely sad eyes stared out, and the world around them disappeared.

A darkness came, deeper than any Jinx had known. Raven's darkness. It enveloped her entire being, suffused her, moved her, physically and mentally and spiritually, until not even her name remained, not even time existed. Then the darkness retreated and-

It was a very strange landscape. Floating islands scattered about in a sky filled with blotches of foreboding color, the sparse land dotted with dead trees and broken architecture. Something about it seemed oddly familiar to Jinx, but she couldn't place it. She still held Starfire's hand in her left, but her right was empty.

"Raven?" said Starfire, letting go of Jinx and hovering a little higher to see. "Are you here?"

"Hey, don't go too far. Going by how warped the stairs down to the basement were, we have no way of knowing you'll be able to fly back." Jinx tried to get some sense of direction, or some destination. She thought about the deep darkness and the grey cloak she had seen.

"Go away..." intoned a forlorn voice in the distance. Jinx and Starfire turned, and as if by magic, a road had appeared in front of them, leading towards what looked almost like a black hole at the other end.

Jinx looked at Starfire, who shrugged and landed next to her. "I suppose that is as good a destination as any. If one can call such a thing good."

"It's good if it leads to Raven," answered Jinx.

Starfire smiled. "As they say on Earth: You have got it bad."

Jinx declined to answer. She refused to be teased about her not-even-relationship issues from the most lovesick member of the Titans and opted to get moving instead. Starfire chuckled softly behind her and fell in line.

Ravens landed on the trees as they walked, circling overhead. Jinx looked at one. It stared back with four glowing eyes. Four eyes again. What did that mean? The descriptions for summoning Scath had involved four eyes. Were these symbolic of having accidentally bound Raven instead?

"I believe these are how she came to name this place Nevermore," said Starfire, shivering. "She once did a reading of the poem of Poe I will never forget when we went out together for poetry night. We were not allowed back there for many weeks, even though the crowd loved it."

Jinx wished she could have seen that. Then she frowned. Starfire didn't seem surprised by the eyes, and this place was older than the binding. Now that was weird. She looked back at the ravens.

There were a lot more ravens. Way, way more. She stopped. "Er, Starfire? What are they doing?"

"Are they gathering for something?" she asked.

As she asked that question, the ravens seemed to form a great mass of eyes and beaks and talons which rose into the sky, then descended towards them. Jinx heard Starfire shoot several bolts, then felt Starfire pick her up by the armpits again and fly towards the blackness ahead of them before she could even speak. The ravens almost caught up, and another mass formed ahead of them.

Jinx concentrated and raised her hands, shooting as many hexes ahead of them as she could. It was just enough for a hole in the mass to form they could fly through.

"What the heck is their problem?" she asked rhetorically.

"Not as great as the problem we are about to have!" said Starfire, looking ahead.

From nowhere, a massive marble gate had appeared in the path ahead, and before they could slow down to avoid it, they passed through.

The sky was different, oddly green. So was the landscape, though no natural green color Jinx had ever seen; it was like it had been painted with huge patches of camo paint. Behind them, the huge mass of ravens threatened to spill through the gate, but their cries were interrupted by a much louder warcry from what sounded like a human throat.

Sailing over them came Brave, her leg extended in a flying kick. Somehow, as her kick landed, the entire mass of murder birds stopped in its tracks and was ejected through the gate.

"Hell yeah!" she said as Starfire deposited Jinx on the ground. "I knew you could do it, Jinx! I loved that plan! I said you could go into the Tower alone and kick ass and you did!"

Jinx opened her mouth, then shut it. Yeah, she kind of had ended up doing basically what Brave had suggested, hadn't she? Dang.

"Why did they attack us... um, Green Raven?" asked Starfire.

"Call me Brave! And it's probably because they're currently under Timid's control! Since Raven is with her, the ravens do what she wants, and she wants to be alone! By the way, you'd never have made it, the road kept getting longer as you walked, so I'm just doing you a favor!"

"If the road keeps getting longer, how do we ever make it to the end?" asked Jinx. This wasn't proving to be easy.

"How do you ever finish a thought, Lucky? You think it through!"

"Lucky? Ugh. Don't use that nickname, please. Anything but that."

"Sure thing, Horns!"

Well this was a thing. Jinx just glared at Brave, who was laughing with her hands on her hips.

Starfire looked at Jinx. "Why can she not call you Lucky?"

Jinx frowned. "My first boyfriend did. Never want to think about that guy again." As she said it, bringing back some bad memories, the greenish camouflage-dotted landscape shifted and contracted weirdly, forming strange spikes out of the ground.

"Whoah, that guy must have been a piece of work for you to feel that strongly about him!" said Brave. "Bring it on!"

"That's it!" Jinx snapper her fingers. "Just finish a thought by thinking it! Our thoughts and emotions are shaping everything here!"

"Yep!" said Brave. "She's an empath, and empaths often reflect what they feel from others! But be careful, it's not just your thoughts that are doing this! So are Raven's! And she's in charge around here, so if what she wants and what you want aren't the same thing, she'll always win!"

"But... she does not want to be found," said Starfire. "And that is the only reason we are here."

"Yeah, complicated isn't it? But I know you two can do it! I believe in you, and if you don't believe in yourselves, just believe in me so I can believe in you for you!"

Jinx worked that out in her head. "Oookay, that's... special. Well, we found you, so that's a start."

"Love that confidence!" Brave gave Jinx a thumbs up and winked. “Sorry to say it, but my corner of this dimension is about as far from Timid as you can possibly get, so I can't go with!"

“Which emotions could help us?” asked Jinx.

“Most of them! Don’t ask Sloth, though! Not unless you think digging around in trash for snacks or sniffing your boots would help!”

“Ew. Duly noted.” Why was that even something that a part of Raven wanted to do? Well, the boots thing...

Brave nodded. “Great! Now get out there and find our girl!”

Jinx looked at Starfire, and they nodded. "Very well," said Starfire. "Thank you for your assistance. You have been most helpful."

"Heck yeah!" said Brave, raising her fist, which she bumped against theirs. Then the landscape seemed to fall away, and they were back in the island-dotted void, having passed the gate. Brave was nowhere to be seen, and neither were the ravens. Jinx shrugged and they walked along the only path they had.

"Okay, so. If we want to get closer, we can't think of anything that isn't Timid. So... don't think happy thoughts?"

"Jinx, that does not help. You might as well have told me not to think of pink Frombuloids."

A pink... something... materialized in the void, sailed past them, and dissipated. Jinx didn't even know where to begin describing it.

"See?" said Starfire. "But alas, thinking timid things will not bring us closer.  Not only am I sure how I would, Raven will also always win in here."

"Well, then we have to somehow make what she wants and what we want be the same thing. How do we do that?"

“I do not know! Not even the time I spent in her body helps my understanding!”

Jinx just looked at her. Her disbelief must have been showing on her face, because Starfire shrugged apologetically.

“It is a long tale,” Starfire said. “What I do know is that her powers are stronger the more she feels. Whatever it is she desires, she must be feeling it very strongly for this to happen.”

“Do body swaps and weird hypno-Brits just happen a lot to you guys?” asked Jinx, still wondering if Starfire was playing her.

“More than any of us would like,” said Starfire. “But we must not become distracted.”

“Okay,” said Jinx, agreeing. “So, to make ourselves want the same thing as her, we have to know what that thing is.” Jinx had an idea, and thought very hard about wanting to know the answer. “And the only way to know that is-”

"-By understanding what she wants," said Raven's voice. Jinx and Starfire turned around, and were suddenly in a vast marble-columned library. Books flew from place to place, organizing themselves according to some unknown system, some even flapping their covers. Standing at a lectern in the center of the shelves, which were arrayed in eight rows from that center, stood Knowledge, adjusting her glasses. "Good. Your inquisitive thinking has led you down Brave's path to me. I take it my advice worked for you, Jinx?"

Jinx frowned. "Are you going to explain how you knew that would work with the glider?"

"You already snapped at me for merely suggesting I knew anything about your powers, so no." 

"And what about the books you told me to get? How are they useful in here?"

"They're not. Raven was really bored in your base without something to read, so I had you fetch something for her. I planned for the future past this crisis."

"You unbelievable jerk." Jinx felt annoyed, but Knowledge ignored her, waved a hand, and a book flew from a shelf to the lectern. Was Jinx imagining things, or did she hear the distant sound of an orangutan call?

Starfire looked at the shelves, then fixed her gaze on Knowledge. "Yellow Raven, how do we make our desires align with Raven's?"

"Please, Star, call me Knowledge. And unfortunately... I am not sure. She has hidden herself a little too effectively for me to know what she's thinking, and my alternative means of discovering it will likely make her problem worse." Admitting she didn't know something made her grimace horribly, as if she'd suddenly tasted something foul in her mouth.

"You'd have to look deeper into her fears, you mean, which would make her start feeling more afraid."

Knowledge shuddered, but nodded.

Jinx glanced around the library again. She suddenly understood what the place reminded her of. "This place is based on Azarath, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Knowledge. "As is the void of Nevermore proper." Jinx nodded. The broken architecture, the islands themselves, and the odd blotches in the sky were all twisted versions of the vision Knowledge had shown her, destroyed almost beyond recognition.

"Why is it so twisted and broken out there? The Azarath I saw was beautiful."

Starfire snapped her eyes towards Jinx. "You have seen Raven's home? How have you done this thing? None of us in the Tower have ever known it!"

"I showed her. Observe." Knowledge floated into Raven's familiar meditative pose, and spoke Raven's familiar words. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." As she did, the library changed, and in its place came back the vision of Azarath, its wide streets, open sky, growing fields, and everywhere you cared to look, its smiling, contemplative, working people in all shapes and colors, in meditation or relaxation. Starfire gasped in sheer wonder. Jinx recognized Raven's leotard on some of the older inhabitants; robes were dominant, skirts and tunics more common on men. No one wore pants, though, which made Jinx realize why Raven could not be coaxed into a pair.

"The void without is twisted because it is merely the detritus of Raven's experiences, among other things. It does not contain anything of importance to her, but is useful as a means of sorting us apart. It is also where her power is at its strongest. If she has ever transported you, she has taken you partly through that void."

Jinx, however, was so strongly reminded of Raven in Knowledge's pose, that she wasn't really listening. Instead she fixed her eyes on the only spot of indigo in the entire vista. Raven, perhaps no more than six or seven years old, sat by several other children. They gave her space, certainly, but they weren't avoiding her. She was the only kid there in blue, her grey skin standing out just as much from the rest of Azarath's inhabitants.

"Is that Raven after her mind was... shattered?" asked Jinx, pointing. Starfire looked, and her eyes might as well have filled with hearts.

"Oh, X'hal! She is adorable! I could simply pick her up and do the cuddling to her forever!"

Not before I do, Jinx thought.

Knowledge flew over by them and smiled. "That is her. Well done, Jinx. Your desire to find her conjured a memory within my vision. This was her first session of meditation with the other children after the ritual was completed. She didn't make friends, but she was not shunned. For the first time in her life, she felt a semblance of the normality the other children had. This was the gift the ritual was meant to give her; an ability to feel like any other child feels."

Jinx was stunned. She had thought of the ritual as creepy, maybe even horrid, as if the monks had singled Raven out and tried to destroy parts of her. Instead, what she saw was... not someone who fit in, exactly, but not someone who stood so badly out. Someone who belonged, despite being different, despite the nature of her uncontrolled power.

She had never envied Raven more than in that moment, or been happier for her.

"Why are Raven's robes a unique color?" asked Starfire.

"...Because of the circumstances of her birth. You know of it." Knowledge looked knowingly at Starfire, then at Jinx. Starfire seemed to understand. "She actually chose the color herself. Most of the people of Azarath will wear different colors throughout their lives to symbolize their thoughts or place in life, but Raven immediately chose indigo."

"What's the significance of that?" asked Jinx.

"It is the Azarath color of mourning."

Jinx laughed. "Hah! She had her brand picked out early. I love it. The only goth in a dimension of normies."

Starfire said nothing, her face unusually grim.

"It is also the color of compassion, for on Azarath it is said that death should be remembered and celebrated with kindness," added Knowledge, unable to stop herself from lecturing.

That made even more sense to Jinx given her experience of Raven, but before she could linger on the thought, the memory changed in front of them. A woman dressed in pure white walked over to Raven, her back to them, and apparently called out to her. The tiny Raven stood up and walked to the woman, bowing formally.

"Who's that?" asked Jinx.

"That is Arella. Raven's mother."

Just before Arella turned around, the vision faded. Knowledge almost crashed from where she floated, startling Starfire. "Knowledge? What is wrong?"

"Something in the memory has stirred a response in Raven." The bookshelves around them creaked and bent, several books in the air falling to the ground. Some of the flying ones seemed to sprout black feathers and red eyes.

"What do we do?" asked Starfire.

"Run. And don't look back."

Jinx and Starfire didn't hesitate. Jinx couldn't resist one last glance back as Knowledge cowered pitiably on the floor, the books landing around her until she couldn't be seen. She suppressed the desire to go and help her; she was a stuck-up ass even in her adorable glasses, but she was part of Raven. But, also, she doubted she would be hurt. After all, this was all in Raven's mind.

A horrible cawing, as if by a thousand ravens, made her run faster. She knew that sound. It was the same sound she'd heard when Raven had tried to break the circle the first time. She felt Starfire pick her up again, and didn't resist, instead hexing away books and ravens and other, stranger things as they flew past and over and through the warping, falling shelves. Jinx's frustration made her growl. All of that, and their most useful source of information was gone, with them no closer to finding Raven.

"Think of a way out!" Jinx shouted, firing a wide-angle hex that disrupted an entire incoming flight of what looked like mechanical manuals and magazines. Just as she said it, a pair of pillars, rough and hewn, were in front of them, and Starfire rushed through.

The heat that hit them was beyond anything Jinx had ever experienced, pounding at her the moment Starfire passed the space between the pillars. Huge pits of lava and fire threw pillars of molten magma and tongues of flame into the air. Mixed with the rush of rapidly burning oxygen were human voices, crying out in suffering. Starfire's flight faltered as they almost hit one of the rising columns, and she landed on a little islet in a sea of flame. Smoke filled the air around them.

"Oh, no," said Starfire. "I believe I know where this is. We have entered Her realm."

"Whose?" asked Jinx.

"Mine," said the echoing voice of Anger.

Starfire and Jinx looked for the source of the voice. The smoke and ash cleared in front of them, revealing a massive throne towering over the horizon - a throne made from what looked like the ruins of Titan Tower, decorated with bones. And sitting on this throne, almost languidly, was a red-cloaked Raven, her four eyes red and glowing brighter than even the molten streams of lava.

"What... the hell?" asked Jinx.

"Exactly," said Anger, smiling. Her mouth was lined with fangs. Jinx had seen this before in the kitchen in the hive base, and the sensation of imminent danger immediately made her spine tingle. "Welcome to MY realm. Welcome to Hell!"

Anger stood up, and her cloak billowed, clearing away the smoke and ash. All around them, as far as the eye could see, were shattered, tilting skyscrapers. Jinx was shocked to recognize one right away; the ruins of the Wayne Corp tower she had jumped off earlier that evening. The closer she looked, the more she realized that this was the ruined, burning husk of Jump City.

Starfire wailed. She recoiled in horror, only to turn around and find the same sight behind her. She finally cowered behind Jinx, using her like a shield against what she was seeing. "No! Not this! There is no need to show me this! We stopped this from happening! We-"

"You did NO such thing!" Anger's voice made the earth quiver with its intensity. "You FAILED! SHE failed! Look upon the price of our mutual failure, Starfire! DO NOT DENY IT!"

"What is she talking about, Star?" asked Jinx. The alien girl whimpered and didn't respond. Jinx had never seen her be afraid of anything before.

"The truth," said Anger. "Take a careful look, Jinx. This is what might happen if you fail here tonight. This is all that will remain of your home." As the red-clad Aspect spoke, she walked closer... or shrank... or some combination of each. Each step she took across the landscape brought her physically closer to the other girls, but also made her tower less over them, until finally she stood a few feet away at Raven's usual height. It was as if she had stepped out of some kind of optical illusion. The only indication that she had actually physically crossed the distance between them was a few specks of molten rock being shed from one of her feet and a distant impression from a foot in the sea of flame, rapidly filling itself in.

"Ah. I've seen Raven do that trick," said Jinx. "Starting to spot a pattern here."

"Well aren't you a clever little hypocrite," said Anger.

"Excuse me?"

"Getting all huffy and mad about how Raven dares to analyze and try to understand you and your powers, but feeling all clever and cool when you do it to her. Asshole."

Jinx didn't rise to the bait... barely. "Takes the queen bitch to know one."

Anger... laughed. Not a humorous laugh, but strangely triumphant. "Oh, you vex me, witch. But you challenge me. Raven does so enjoy that." She swept her arm dramatically. "Look at the horizon, Jinx. Take it in."

"Why? It's not like it's real."

"Do you think me some cheap CONJURER?" shouted Anger, shifting size as her eyes glowed more brightly. "The only illusionist in this devastation Raven laughingly calls her mind is the yellow-bellied Fear, so afraid that she denies even her name and her power, covering it up with the illusion of control and learning and those pathetic little glasses she thinks make her look less foolish to others. No, Jinx. This is quite real. I am a connoisseur of Raven's failures."

A staircase appeared in front of them leading downwards, and climbing up it came dozens of apparitions as if they were ghosts rising from the depths of hell, each one carrying in its limbs a memory - how she understood this, she didn't know. She saw a ghostly Doctor Light being consumed in the darkness of Raven's cloak. She saw a momentary loss of control against a cheap shock scare in a schlock movie transform the Tower into a vicious deathtrap, Raven's pride unable to even accept it. She saw Raven, covered in the now familiar red runes, the mark of Scath bright on her forehead, glumly accepting her fate - although she couldn't see what it was. A dozen others, from a little failure to remember a fact from a scripture in front of a class on Azarath, to the most minor of self-criticisms when she lost a spur-of-the-moment videogame match to Beast Boy, to her messing up a tiny mechanism in Cyborg's car and having had to ask his help to fix it when she couldn't do it herself, to being unable to find Jinx in Mad Mod’s lair to fulfil her binding and keep her safe. 

Even when it was something she was forced to do, she beat herself up for failing. Jinx felt sadder, knowing perfectly well how she’d contributed to this situation.

Anger seemed to sense her weakness. She came up to her back, causing Starfire to shift to Jinx's front, and spoke into her ear. "Your girl is nothing but a PATHETIC string of failures, Jinx. I wonder if that's why you like her. You pity her. You look at what she lacks in her life and seek to fill it with yourself, even dressing her like your very own little doll. Would you even bother if you weren't holding her strings? These are the questions she asks herself around you. Aren't you proud of how you make her feel?"

"Wow," said Jinx, turning to stare Anger directly in the eye. "So Raven gets as angry at herself as I get with myself. Who knew."

Anger... shifted. For just a moment, it seemed like her skin had become red. She quickly covered herself in her cloak again and circled around Jinx, calculating. Jinx took Starfire's hand, who grasped it tightly enough to hurt.

Jinx follower Anger's movement with her head, thinking back to what Brave had said. "I know it was you who attacked Raven, but it was because she was angry at herself. You're actually trying to help, aren't you, Anger?"

"And why would I not?" she asked, smiling her fanged smile once again. "Getting Raven out of her pitiable timidity will suit me just fine. I will keep this memory alive within me, just like all her other missteps. I am now, and forever, hers. Oh, hexer, you do challenge me so. I hate that I like you."

"But this won't work," said Jinx, squashing away the thought that the eyes and fangs looked shockingly good on Raven. "Making Starfire feel smaller, making me feel smaller, won't beat her in here. It won't bring us closer. In her mind, she will always win that race."

Anger growled horribly and turned away in frustration.

"I- I think I understand now," said Starfire, emerging from behind Jinx. "I think I know what Raven wants."

"What is it?" asked Jinx, reassuring her.

"The same thing I wanted now. She wants to feel safe. She wants to be comforted. She wants to know everything will be alright, just like any person seeking safety does."

Jinx nodded, grinning. "That's brilliant, Star!"

"Don't get too Happy," said Anger, growling a warning. "I don't want that little pink fool traipsing through my realm, unheeding of her past failures while she constantly steps in new ones without a care." But she smiled a little smile anyway, her four eyes narrowing oddly.

"But... where has Raven felt safe? How? And with who?" asked Starfire.

Jinx inclined her head. "Arella."

The procession of memory twisted in on itself, now showing a beautiful woman. Raven's features were recognizable on her, the straight jet-black hair, the gem on her forehead a mirror of Raven's own, and with each one came a memory of self-perceived failure. Raven, as a kid, beating herself up for having been conceived. Raven, failing in her meditation, destroying her room. Raven, hurting a child who had pulled her hair, disappointing Arella.

Anger retreated into her cloak again, growing larger on the horizon, watching them.

Jinx focused intently on Raven's mother. The memories transformed. A rare moment of closeness as they held hands. Arella singing Raven a haunting Azarathi lullaby. Arella, having been distant from her child, accepting her daughter as hers, even as it seemed to tear her apart from within. A simple hug, almost unknown to the little girl. Jinx realized that their own hug must have brought that memory back to Raven.

It reminded Jinx of her own mother. She did not cry. She had not cried in a long time.

Suddenly, things were different. They were out of the horrid landscape of Anger's Hell. They were instead in Raven's room at the Tower. Sitting on the bed, facing away from them, was a figure in a grey cloak, sobbing gently.

Jinx looked at Starfire, who nodded back. They slowly approached the grey-cloaked figure, who seemed to sense their presence, drawing her cloak tighter around herself.

"Please. Nooo. She wants to be alone. She's hurting. Everyone hurts her."

Jinx, saying nothing, touched the figure, and enveloped her in a gentle hug. Starfire followed suit, embracing both of them. They noticed that, somehow, they now wore white robes, and Jinx saw Starfire with a Lens of Azar on her forehead. She knew she had one too.

"We are here," Starfire said. "You are safe."

The grey cloak fell away, and Timid glanced at Jinx.

"She doesn't want you to see her like this," Timid said quietly. "She doesn't want to look weak to you."

"Then let me make you both feel better," Jinx said. “Then it will be alright.” Jinx understood now. Raven had retreated into a deep and primal emotion, further than the simple logic of Knowledge had been able to understand, the raw desire for comfort and safety. And more than anything, she wanted to give those things to Raven.

Timid looked Jinx in the eye with her infinitely sad eyes, pleading, and simply melted away. In her place was Raven in the form of a child, dressed in indigo robes, bawling her eyes out and crying for her mother. Jinx and Starfire drew her in close and held her, rocking her back and forth. From somewhere came Arella's lullaby, softly filling the room.

And as easy as that, without them noticing, they were back inside the magic circle in the HIVE base, Jinx holding a sleeping, now white-clad Raven in her arms, Starfire embracing them both. The only article of clothing on Raven that hadn't become a pure and shining white was her choker with its lotus engraving. Jinx softly stroked Raven's hair as she lay against her shoulders, and Starfire's eyes filled with tears as she watched.

"She is back. How wonderful.” Starfire wiped her eyes, smiling. "I have never seen her so at peace."

Jinx moved to get up, but Starfire held her down. "Stay a while longer like this with her. Do you want something? I will get it for you."

"Well, if you're offering... could you make us some tea? There's some in the rightmost cupboard in the kitchen. Get yourself whatever you want while you're at it."

"I would be delighted to, friend." Starfire hovered away towards the door. "Do not worry. I know how Raven likes her tea. One only makes a mistake with her food once.”

  
  
  
  
  


"...how did you even get Starfire to join you? I know you didn't ask Robin."

They sat in the kitchen, or what was left of it after a day of mayhem and a moment of Starfire's peculiar approach to cooking for herself. She and Jinx sipped tea with sandwiches, while Starfire seemed to prefer yellow mustard straight from the bottle. Jinx didn't question it.

Starfire smiled. "Oh, I think Robin will be very displeased with me, though I am confident I will make him see reason. But at this moment, I care not! It is so good to see you in white again, Raven!"

"I was about to ask," said Jinx. "What's the white about? None of the Aspects had that going."

"...It's unity," said Raven. "I am whole, for the moment, all of me acting as one. It won't last, but when I am like this, I'm at the peak of my power and control. Speaking of which, how bad is the damage?"

"The base is a bit of a mess," shrugged Jinx. "I think there was some weirdness topside going by what Star said, but the Titans took care of it. No one got hurt. You seriously freaked Billy out."

"Did I now?" said Raven, apparently not regretting that last bit very much.

"How much do you remember?" asked Jinx.

"Bits and pieces. My emotions aren't me, so what they experience belongs to them first. It's... an odd system, but it works most of the time." She frowned. "...I think part of me may have said something very insensitive to you."

"Yeah, but I'm mostly over myself." Jinx grinned at her. It was true. She just wasn't completely over it.

Starfire beamed. "You have had your first taste of The Fights, yes?"

Jinx narrowed her eyes at her. "Star, that's... we're not dating, let alone having fights." 

Raven nearly choked on her tea.

"Oh? Anyone could see how you look at each other," the alien said mischievously, looking directly at Jinx and winking. "I believe Raven would be very... into it."

Oh that orange alien jerk, Jinx thought. This was high treason.

"Starfire! Even if Jinx would want to, would you really think she'd take advantage of this situation like that?" said Raven.

Jinx looked at Raven, a little shocked. That echoed her own thoughts a little too well.

"...Sorry if this brings up old pains, Jinx," Raven said. "But Starfire, I have complete faith in her not misusing… this, like that. She has her reasons."

This was about Brother Blood, Jinx realized. She was grateful to Raven for not dragging it out, but also shocked that she had guessed so much. Guessed basically all of it, actually. The last thing Jinx wanted in her life was to become like him.

Starfire, for her part, just held her face in her hands, grinning at Raven.

"...Stop that."

Star's grin grew wider, transforming into a smile.

"...I said stop it, you weirdo." Raven's mouth twitched a little, as if she were trying not to smile.

"I shall be sure to bring many gifts to your wedding," Star said teasingly. 

"...Come on."

"I shall hunt and slay the customary Kroax'tel with my own hands for the feast in your honor to bring blessings on your many children-" Starfire made a slight eep as a black bolt of energy discharged near her and she retreated a short distance, giggling madly.

Yeah, things were definitely almost back to normal, Jinx thought. She grinned and had another sip of tea. Aside from all the bits that weren't normal at all.


	12. Hot Streak

The boys filtered back in the early hours of the next morning, Billy taking extra special care to avoid Raven. She was back to her normal color, meditating peacefully in the living room. She had cleaned up a bunch of the mess while in her white form using her more precise control, but there was still plenty of stuff to fix.

"Well, that seems pretty normal to me," said Gizmo when he saw Jinx on the couch. "We got a problem, Jinx."

"What is it?" she asked, not taking her eyes off Raven. She'd been there for a while.

"See-more is back in town saying he's got a job. You know how that guy is. He found me at the safehouse."

Jinx turned slightly. "I thought he was with his new boyfriend. Or was it girlfriend this time? I can never remember."

"Yeah, well, they're having a fight or somethin' and he's flying solo until he gets his pit-snortin' mess of a relationship fixed so he decided to crawl back to town. He didn't find us at the old base but spotted me yesterday."

"Not hard for him," she said. "What's the job?"

"Aw come on, you're not gonna take this on are you? Do you remember the last snot-eatin’ job he got us in?"

She sat up, feeling the still-receding aches of the previous day as she stretched. "We could do with the distraction, and I don't feel like cleaning the base just yet. Besides, do you think us saying no is going to stop him from making trouble? He might remember where the other entrances to the HIVE are and lead someone to us. We might as well humor the guy. He was pretty okay when he was with us, even if he has absolutely no head for business." Jinx wasn't about to say she'd been considering inviting him back soonish. No head, sure, but a good eye. He just needed direction.

"Crud-munchin'- Fine. Fine! It's a simple B&E. Some rich guy wants us to cause a bunch of mayhem at his property for insurance fraud and we can keep whatever we like."

Jinx frowned. "Ugh. I hate those. I swear most of the stuff we do is just about the rich trying to be more rich. See-more bringing one of those to me must mean he's really desperate for cash, or actively trying to burn bridges with me."

Raven tilted her head, listening from within the depths of her meditation. "...I imagined you would be doing more robberies."

"Fencing things takes time and never brings in as much as you want, Sunshine. Even robbing the bank means we can't use the money for a few months until we filter it through a bunch of launderers, by which time the take won't be nearly as big. We have to eat." Jinx got up and stretched again. "Okay, fine, how long do you think this will take, Gizmo?"

"Not more than a couple of hours if we go now. There's no rush so long as it gets done. Oh, and we have to destroy some cars too."

"Cool. Tell Mammoth he's going to have extra fun. Don't have too much fun without us, Raven."

"...You're not bringing me?"

"Nope. You deserve a bit of rest. And you being out may attract the Titans, which I don't care to on behalf of some rich jerk. We won't be long. Don't tire yourself out cleaning things for us or anything."

  
  
  
  
  


Twelve hours later, the four HIVE members staggered into the base. Mammoth was covered in dried blue paint, looking dead on his feet, with a broken-off car door still hanging around his neck. Gizmo's backpack was sparking, one of the robotic legs on it having been ripped off. Billy helped Billy stagger into the base before falling over one of Billy's legs, and Jinx's hair had lost one of its bindings and was frazzled, her stockings ripped in several places.

Jinx turned to the tiny genius. "Gizmo? Next time I say we go on a See-more job, punch me. Hard."

"That's what you said last snot... pit... time." Gizmo was too tired to complete an insult.

"Okay, then tell me to punch myself-" the HIVE members stopped, staring.

The base was pristine. Every broken light fixture was fixed. The walls were sparkling. Jinx walked further in, glancing into the kitchen. It had been cleared not just of Starfire's mess, but also the mess of months or years of cooking preceding it. Mammoth apparently didn't notice and simply ambled to his room, falling snoring to the floor.

"Oh, what the - she better not have messed with my workshop!" said Gizmo, immediately going to his room.

Jinx looked around, hearing sounds coming from the TV. As she watched, the colorful notes of a music rhythm game cascaded down the screen. She knew this one; it had only come out about a month ago and had a specialized controller. Gizmo had been excited about it for months. The room smelled like lavender. Where had Raven even found lavender?

She blinked and walked towards the couch, which itself looked suspiciously less gross. Sure enough, she found Raven sitting there, in the most bored pose she had ever seen on her, holding a plastic controller in her hand, expertly moving her fingers across its buttons while staring at the screen.

"...Hi," said Raven, not looking up. "I got bored," she added after a few seconds, by way of explanation for everything going on.

"Wow. You didn't have to clean everything. I don't even know how you managed all of that in that time. And somehow I never expected to see you playing videogames."

"I wouldn't have done either of those, except you won't let me read any of your books and you banned me from using my powers while not near you. While you were away for twelve hours." 

Oh yeah. She had commanded her not to do that and forgot about it. Whoops. "Okay, you can use your powers while I'm away from now on, sorry. I also brought some books from the Tower when I got your mirror yesterday. I left them down in the summoning room."

"...Oh. Maybe you should have told me that earlier." Raven didn't look up from the game still, even so.

Billy got back in, still in shock at how different things looked. "Were the walls always so bright, Billy?" "Whoah now, Raven, ever think about missing a dang note there?" "Yeah, you'll beat Billy's high score at this rate!" "Will not!" "Will too!" "Wanna bet?"

Jinx looked at the song in process. Raven really was hitting every single note without apparent effort.

"...I don't miss."

Gizmo came back, fuming.  "Hey! What's the big snot-munching idea, goth girl? Who said you could touch my gear- hey, is she playing that on hard?"

"Some of your equipment was broken and I got bored so I fixed it. Sorry. I know most guys don't like people touching their tools without permission."

"I think you'll find most guys like girls doing that just fine, Sunshine," Jinx said.

"...aaand we're back on your bullshit already." Jinx had learned to read Raven better, and heard the slight tone of almost fondness.

Jinx put two and two together. Raven spent time with Cyborg in the Titans' garage, and got annoyed when she encountered a mechanical problem she couldn't fix in Anger's memories. "So you know your way around tech, huh?"

Raven nodded almost imperceptibly. "...A bit. Cyborg trusts me with his car and he showed me how to repair him in case of an emergency. I help him sometimes. Gizmo happens to have stolen some of his designs, so it wasn't too hard to figure out. I've also gotten to play with Robin's toolbelt."

Jinx smiled her widest smile and Raven groaned without even seeing her face, realizing what she had just done.

"...I can't believe I said that in front of you," Raven said.

"I'll be sure to remember it for later," said Jinx.

Gizmo seemed to have forgotten his anger as he watched Raven play. "Whoa! Raven nailed that solo like it was nothing!"

"I like this song. I haven't heard most of these songs before."

Jinx was startled. "What? How? Most of these are classics!"

"...I didn't grow up with a lot of contemporary music."

"Ugh. Duh, Jinx, you knew that." Jinx nearly smacked her forehead. Raven did know some pop culture, but of course her knowledge would be spotty and random. She'd only been outside Azarath for three years.

The song ended, her score deemed 100% perfect by the game with every note hit, and idly scrolled through to the selection screen. It showed 100% scores on every song on the menu.

"Wha- did you get a perfect score on every dang song on this thing?" asked Billy.

"...I got very bored."

"Did you play this up in the Tower?" asked Jinx. "This is a pretty new game, but the Titans don't lack resources, so..." Gizmo had pirated it and gotten his hands on a controller almost a month in advance, as he usually did for any game he cared about. He was still working on a controller that would survive Mammoth's touch, since there was already a pile of wrecked ones in the workshop.

"I've heard Beast Boy and Cyborg talk about this, but they didn't buy it yet. Robin won't budget it until they complete the latest tactical exercises properly."

The room fell into total silence.

"I'm sorry," began Jinx after a moment, "are you saying you got a perfect score on every song in this game on your first time ever playing it? On the highest difficulty? Without having the use of your powers, or having even heard most of them before?"

"...Yeah, why?"

"No way. You did something."

"Yeah, I did. I beat it."

Jinx grinned and narrowed her eyes. "Prove it."

Raven simply swung the controller over, inviting her to pick it up, smirking back. "Pick a song."

Gizmo vaulted over the back of the couch and grabbed it, picking away at it. "This one. It's almost ten minutes and thousands of notes long. There's no way you beat this one legit. I'll take first go to check if you messed with the snot-stuffin' controller, now that I know you got some tech in that head."

Raven shrugged.

Gizmo started it. He tried his best, even using one of the robotic limbs to try to help him out, but the cluttered arrangement and frenetic pace was simply too much. Jinx felt a little intimidated just looking at it and wondered how anyone was supposed to beat this without being a metahuman. Gizmo couldn't even make it more than halfway, the game booing him out of it after too many failures.

"Okay, controller seems legit. Let's see how you do, birdy."

Raven frowned. "My name," she said as she started the song, "is Raven." 

If Jinx had felt a little intimidated before, it was nothing compared to what she was seeing now. Gizmo had frantically tried to keep up, but Raven was hitting every note without any effort. The first solo had Billy and Gizmo gasping. The second long stretch practically had them hooting and hollering.

"That's our Raven!" said a Billy, and Jinx looked from the screen, startled. Our Raven. Even after everything, the boys were apparently accepting her presence in the base. So long, of course, she was doing something they thought was cool.

She looked back at the notes on the screen, and felt a tiny little spark of envy. Raven wasn't even using her powers now, and she was still pulling this off. She'd admired her, been afraid of her, respected her, but this was just a tiny bit over the edge. Her ego still smarted from Knowledge insinuating that Raven knew more about her powers than she did, no matter how much she insisted to Raven that she was fine with it, and she didn't need this on top. Raven just couldn't be this perfect.

Jinx knew how petty that was. It was a videogame. She didn't even care about it. But she couldn't help it.

Raven finished the song with just the tiniest bit of flourish, and set the controller down next to her.

"Whoah! What are you even made of, Raven?" gasped Gizmo, enthralled.

"You said my name," said Raven, satisfied.

"Billy, I don't think I ever saw a more beautiful sight." "Not even her bu-" "Hush Billy. Hush. Now is not the time. Now, we just bear witness."

Jinx didn't huff. She wasn't going to make this a whole thing. Nope. "Nice. Now get back to the briefing room, boys, we got dinner to make and work to do. Hopefully Mammoth will wake up when he smells food."

"What? Aw come on, we just went through a total bust of a job-" Gizmo started.

"Yeah, and we still have to make plans for what we're doing next. We have a strategy now, remember? Scoot."

"If you can call doin' the Titans' job for them a strategy," Gizmo muttered.

"I'll show you a strategy if you don't scoot your butt in there, Gizmo."

Raven glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "...That... doesn't even make sense."

"Now, boys!" Gizmo and the Billies walked to the kitchen, grumbling.

Jinx looked at Raven, smiling sweetly. "Well, since you have so much time, Sunshine, I'll let you read my books. If, and only if, you arrange them on my shelf first. By topic and in alphabetical order." Oh, she was being so petty right now.

"...Ugh," said Raven, floating towards the room, ugh-ing her way every inch, but still clearly intending to do it. "Remind me to massage your shoulders later or something. You get really grouchy when things don't go your way."

Jinx smiled. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours!"

Raven smirked back at her, a little more accustomed to Jinx's innuendos by now, and hovered away.

Jinx took one last look at the now silently-scrolling scoreboard, let herself huff just this once, and went to the kitchen.

  
  
  
  
  


Jinx was on the couch at 2 a.m. in the dark living room when Raven found her, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She was still wearing Jinx's clothes and sleeping in her bed. Somehow, they'd just skipped the whole futon conversation the last couple of nights. And the talk of clearing another room for her use, for that matter. Gizmo had focused his attention on the proposed trophy room instead.

Jinx, controller in hand, started the song again. That stupid, impossible, ridiculously long song that Raven had just breezed through. She'd managed to finish it twice, barely, with horribly low scores, and the more frustrated she got, the less progress she made.

Raven flew over, sitting down next to her. "Having trouble... sleeping?" she said, her tone making it clear what she meant.

Jinx grunted, annoyed. "Oh I know you did something. This thing is impossible!"

"Can't be. I finished it." Raven's slight smugness got to her.

"Oh, sure. Bet you loved showing off in front of all the boys. Is that also why you don't wear pants?" Jinx immediately felt this was pettier than her usual barbs, but didn't much care.

Raven wasn't about to let innuendo derail her this time. "For someone who's wearing the pants in this relationship, you sure are bad at this game."

Jinx failed again, the booing sounds grating on her. "Show me how you did this," she said, gritting her teeth.

"Nope."

Jinx looked her in the eye. "Excuse me, Sunshine? What was that?"

"No, I won't show you. You'll have to make me." Raven dared her with her eyes.

"I'll do it," said Jinx.

"...Then do it."

"I mean it."

"...So mean it."

Jinx gave in to her frustration. "Fine! Fine then! Raven, I command you to show me how you did this!"

The red runes flared, but for once Raven was smirking as Jinx was bathed in their light. She scooted closer, then moved Jinx with her power so she was sitting on the purplette's lap. Then she put her arms around Jinx. Things had suddenly started moving very fast, or maybe that was just Jinx's heart.

"Hey, what the heck! Watch the grabby hands! What are you doing?" Jinx was pretty sure the only reason her blush wasn't showing was the darkness of the room.

"You commanded me to show you, and I'm showing you. Hold the controller like this," she said, moving Jinx's suddenly unresisting arms, gently pushing and stroking them, before depositing her own arms around Jinx's waist, holding her just ever so slightly, but enough to take the pinkette's breath away - and not from being squeezed. "Your fingers are about my size, so this should be more comfortable. Now, start an easier song."

Jinx, feeling very distracted, didn't quite hear what Raven had said. "What?"

"...You need to understand how the game works. Start an easier song."

Jinx selected an easier one, a bit sceptical.

"Your eye is drawn towards the bottom of the screen, but you need to read the notes before that to give yourself time. Relax your shoulders."

"Kinda hard with your giant muscle girl boobs squishing me-"

Jinx felt a petty bit of satisfaction when Raven's hands around her waist tightened just a bit in annoyance. 

"Just... relax." Raven lifted her hands to Jinx's shoulders and started rubbing them. Jinx couldn't help but lean into her touch; it was like Raven knew exactly how each spot made her feel. Oh, wait, of course. She did know. Empath massage turned out to be amazing. Jinx was going to have to get her to do more of these.

Raven walked her through the controls as Jinx relaxed in her lap, lying closer than before, practicing on the easier songs. There were odd bits of the controls she hadn't been aware of, little tricks that the game didn't really tell you about in the game itself, but Raven had figured them out and was passing them on to her.

Jinx quickly got an almost perfect score on one of the easier songs. Raven nodded, apparently satisfied that Jinx had mastered the control scheme. 

"...Now then. I can't exactly teach you how to achieve an Azarathi mental focus all at once. I want your permission for something."

"What's that?" said Jinx languidly, feeling much happier already.

"I'd... like to lend you a bit of my mental focus. But I will have to let it enter your mind to do so, and..."

She didn't continue, but she didn't have to. Jinx felt... unafraid. Completely, and utterly. She was surprised at herself. At her level of trust in the Titan, at the suggestion of letting her inside her mind. Then again, what was the harm? Jinx had done as much for Raven already.

"Go for it, Raven," she said, embarrassingly husky. She wasn't just okay with it. She wanted it.

She felt Raven's breath on her neck. "Just use whatever technique you have for calming your mind. You won't feel me. You'll just feel a little more clear-headed. When you feel ready, start the song." Raven hugged her tight to herself and began her chant; "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

Something felt different, and not just because of how close they were. It was like every outline was a little sharper in her vision, every sense heightened just a tiny bit. She was oddly aware of the position of her spine, for some reason, and straightened it until it felt more balanced. Then she paused.

"You're just teaching me at this point. I told you to show me how you did it."

Raven paused her chant. "Yes. This is how I did it, or as close as I can teach you. I didn't cheat, I just played. There's some things about me I can't pass on, but this much I can do. Now, go for it. See how you do."

Jinx started it, unsure, but almost immediately she felt an incredible difference. The frenetic start went by so quickly she barely registered that she'd done anything to beat it. The calm parts were almost annoyingly empty of action to her. The first major solo started, and her fingers danced.

She knew this feeling. She had felt it countless times, in tiny moments and small ways, where everything just went right for her. She realized, without really worrying how, that those moments on the glider where she'd simply felt exactly right were just miniature versions of what she was feeling right now, momentary glimpses of a much larger universe waiting just outside her grasp. She barely had to register the notes with her eyes. She tried closing them and opened them again when she was sure her fingers were guided exactly where she wanted them to go without needing things like physical sight. She almost forgot Raven's body up against hers, forgot the ugly jealousy that had led her here, forgot the anger at Raven's emotion playing with her.

She completed the song triumphantly at 100% and felt herself get up, dancing in joy. Even now, the feeling of the Zone wasn't going away. 

She stopped and breathed. "Wow! Raven Just what did you teach me there? That was great!"

Raven looked at her curiously. "I... didn't teach you what you just did. Look at your hands."

"Wait, what?" Jinx looked down and felt her chest tighten. Her hands were surrounded by her own pink hex-energies, all the way up to her arms. She waved a hand, but the energy stuck to her. "What's happening?"

"You didn't know?" Raven said. Jinx noted with horror that some of the energy was surrounding Raven as well. When her power touched those she cared about…

Jinx dropped the controller, swinging her hands, trying to use her accustomed mental command to toss the energy out, away from her. It was completely stuck. "Oh no! No no no, I can't let it build up! If it builds up- Make it stop! What did you do?!"

Raven quickly got up and took her hands in her own. Incredibly, nothing happened to Raven. The energy surrounding her was reabsorbed into Jinx harmlessly.

"Jinx, Your hands have been glowing for almost ten minutes. If something was going to happen, it already would have. Look. The energy didn't hurt me, and it's not hurting you."

Jinx went into full on panic mode. "But-but my powers don't work this way! I can't hold them like this!"

"I don't think your powers agree. Relax, Jinx. Your magic... I saw when it started. It guided your fingers. It helped you through the entire song flawlessly, flowing through our shared focus. Why would it hurt you now?"

Jinx felt herself almost being hyperventilating, but Raven's calm and measured tone got through to her. Raven guided her to the sofa, sitting them both down, still holding Jinx's hands.

"Raven, It's bad luck. It never leads to any good. Anything it touches, it messes up. Even just regular people have accidents near me. They always have."

Raven tightened her hold. "I've seen you hit things with your hexes, Jinx. I've been hit by them often enough too. You know what I've never seen?"

"What?"

"I've never seen the bad luck hit you directly. Your powers aren't bad luck for you. They're bad luck for others. You hit incoming projectiles and they fall apart before they can touch you. You hit electronic locks and they don't bar your way anymore. You hit heroes trying to stop you, and you get away. Even you twisting your ankle wasn't because of your powers, anyone would have done that in the dark. Your powers help you. This is just another manifestation of that."

"That's just a matter of discharging magic at things. That doesn't mean anything. Things go wrong for me all the time."

"It does mean something, Jinx. I've seen you aim those bolts. You don't. You let them fly almost on their own, flowing naturally from you. They just seem to know where to go. Your powers go where they'll help you the most."

Jinx shook her head, still terrified. "No, no. Everyone around me has always had bad luck. Sometimes things break when I'm near, too. An elevator once broke when I went into it and lost all but one of its emergency brakes at the same time. It's amazing I lived. I've hated them ever since. It's why we don't have a car, you know that. I've had plenty of bad luck."

"....But the boys aren't tripping all the time around you, now are they? You always survive those incidents. In fact, you thrive on them, throwing yourself into danger over and over again. Are those the actions of someone who's afraid of their own bad luck? My powers are also bad for people and things around me when I don't watch my control or if I don't pay enough attention. It's always a battle for me. It's the same for a lot of... us."

Jinx looked her in the eye, feeling strangely tired, and looked away "For us magic folks? You think so?"

"...I know so. Jinx, your powers aren't like mine, yours flow where I have to fight mine. Don't fight this, it's only draining you. Let the energy do what it's trying to do. That's the only way to take control of it. Fighting it will only make this worse."

"No! It might damage something, or-"

"I'll be right here. I won't let it hurt you."

Jinx looked her in the eyes again. Her wonderful, trusting eyes.

"...Please, trust me. Even if it's just this once. Let me help you through this."

Jinx surrendered to Raven's voice. She looked down at her hands and stopped resisting. The energy immediately began to make its way up her arms, into her body. It wasn't unpleasant - she tasted that taste of metallic strawberry in her mouth again. She felt it when it reached her head, making her feel like she was floating. She stared, almost seeing something, something huge, something true that was waiting for her-

The energy passed and dissipated, and she collapsed into Raven, panting and sweating. She felt dizzy but elated.

Raven held her, patting her on the back. "See? You're fine. No need to be such a big baby."

"Rae?" she said weakly. "Can you carry me to the bathroom?"

"...Why?"

"'Cause I can't feel my legs and I wanna throw up."

"...As in-"

"Nowww."

  
  
  
  
  


Raven tucked Jinx into bed and got her something to drink. Jinx felt weak and tired, like a combination of having a fever and having run a marathon. And she wasn't happy. Even after learning something new about her strange gift, something she had known all along and yet only just realized, she was down. More and more she felt like she was losing everything she'd known about herself.

Raven stroked Jinx's sweaty hair out of her eyes, but Jinx didn't look her way.

"...What's wrong?" Raven asked.

"Raven, do you think you're better than me?"

Raven paused, and actually chuckled. "No. Never. I could never think myself better than you."

"Really? Because you act like you are." Jinx was too tired to hold this in.

"...How so?"

"You can do so much. You're so powerful. And even without your powers you're stronger, more durable, can do stuff like that stupid videogame perfectly the first time you pick it up. And now you know more about my powers than I do." She hated it, but didn't say it, knowing Raven would pick up on it anyway. All the doubts lingering from the encounter with Mad Mod were crawling back to her, filling her mind, and now she wasn't bottling them up.

"Oh, Jinx. Oh, no. I'm sorry." Jinx felt Raven crawl up next to her, holding her closer. "I was trying to bring you to awareness without hurting your pride. I moved too fast. I just want to help you. I just took advantage of an opportunity to let you feel good about yourself. I didn't think-"

"My pride. What's it worth to you? Obviously I'm not as good as you. Especially if you need to help me learn about something I grew up with."

"...I think you're better than me, Jinx."

Jinx snorted. "How can you possibly think that? You know how I've lived my life? I thought I really was the monster the villagers said I was. That I was bad luck and nothing else. That I could never really be more than that, or be any good to anyone. That I couldn't even fully love anyone without killing them." She didn't cry. Barely. "So I just embraced it. Made it mine. If that's what the world was making me out to be, why not be the best at it I could?"

Raven held her tighter.

"Then you come along. And your powers aren't just stronger. You say you feel evil inside you from the Cult of Blood? Whatever it is, it's much worse when it's out of control than I've ever been. I'm a thief on the edges of society because I thought my powers were so bad I couldn't be anything better, but yours are just horrible and you're a hero! An actual hero stopping people from destroying this city! And you're smart, and strong, and focused, and have an incredible alien princess for a friend, and are powerful enough to maybe beat Superman. You're good at anything you want to be, including being a good person. How are you not better than me?"

Raven stroked her hair softly, nuzzling up against her. "...You know what the difference is, Jinx?"

Jinx couldn't reply. Her throat felt too tight.

"I was rescued and raised by monks with incredible wisdom and magical knowledge. I lived in a world that knew no hunger or poverty or even illness. I had my mother, who loved me in spite of how I was conceived. I had an entire order of powerful monks who did incredible magic just to make me feel like I was a little more normal, and a thousand lifetimes of wisdom to learn from built on the brightest mystic minds from all of Earth. Even when I left, I ended up making good friends who have supported me, forgiven me when I fall, and helped me get up again. Jinx, I had every possible advantage I could possibly have had short of being filthy rich here on Earth, and even that would barely make a dent in my life.”

Jinx listened intently. Something in Raven's tone felt raw.

"But I admire you so much, Jinx, because you had nothing at all but yourself. You almost make me ashamed of how much I’ve had in my life. You were driven away. You lost your family. You didn't even know English when you came to America. You were hungry and had no one to teach you. You survived. You grew strong. You learned how to use your powers. You made friends. You rose to the top of an academy meant to make people into hired muscle and still kept your integrity while building a team that sticks together, even when you knew no one would risk anything for your sake. You had absolutely no advantages at all, Jinx, and yet here you are. You kicked me out of the Tower. You've given me a challenge when we've fought. A real and difficult challenge. The little orphan girl who grew up on the streets of San Francisco fought a powerful sorceress from a magic monk dimension and won. You even successfully bound me."

Jinx was breathing heavily from Raven's words even before she pulled Jinx on her back and pushed herself off the bed, staring down at her, the purple hair falling over Jinx's face, the silver lotus coin on her choker dangling loose. 

"How could I ever, possibly, think of comparing us and thinking I'm better than you? I would simply be dead without what I had. You were given nothing and ran with it. You're right to be proud. You've earned it in every way I haven't. I-"

Jinx couldn't contain herself. Something felt just right. She pushed herself upwards and kissed Raven right on the lips, ever so lightly, then fell down on the bed again, exhausted.

Raven was shocked. She remained propped up above her, perfectly still.

"Sorry," Jinx said, suddenly feeling terrible. "I shouldn't- You probably-"

Raven leaned down and kissed her, as light as a feather, and lifted herself up again.

Jinx lay there, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She didn't know how to react. She settled for caressing Raven's cheek and was rewarded by Raven leaning her face into her palm.

"That was my first kiss," said Raven, her eyes lidded.

"Mine too," said Jinx.

Raven snorted in disbelief. "...Bullshit."

Jinx snorted right back, the moment broken. "I'm serious. I know you can tell I'm not lying."

"I can tell and I still say there's no way. You've had boyfriends. Multiple, actual boyfriends."

Looks like Raven remembered that little confession just fine. "Oh, you want the rundown on my love life, do you?"

Raven lay down to Jinx’s side with her arms still around her, looking her in the eyes as they faced each other. "I'd love to hear this absolute nonsense that cannot possibly be real, yes."

"Kid Kold was a self-absorbed asshole who I swear was more into his own sister than me. Disgusting jerk. I only said yes when he asked because he was the first one who dared and I broke it off when he tried to force me to kiss him, and of course he never did."

"...That's one."

"Cyborg was my second, and last. No girlfriends either."

Raven frowned and conceded the point. "Okay, fine, I can believe Cyborg to be enough of a gentleman to be all proper about it."

"Not that I wanted him to wait," Jinx said cheekily. "But... he was really nice. He asked me about my boundaries. He made me aware of them, made them feel important in a way other guys hadn't. I think part of it was also that he wasn't sure if he was staying and didn't want to hurt me, which just makes it better in retrospect as far as I'm concerned. I used to hate him more before you told me about him."

"...He was pretty broken up about you for a while. He saw something great buried in you, like I did. Our sessions in the garage are sometimes just mutual venting, really."

Jinx smiled. "At first I was just taking advice from one of the HIVE guest lecturers. She said to attach yourself to the strongest guy around and work from behind the scenes. Instead I just got the sweetest guy around and kind of fell for him for real. Not a bad deal, really. And after that there was no one else. When you're on my side of the metahuman fence, you have to take tight control or someone with big ideas will try to take it from you purely because they can, plus I was hurting for a bit."

"...Fair enough," Raven said, nodding.

"And... my abuser never kissed me." Her abuser. She had never vocalized it before. Never made it so concrete.

Raven stroked Jinx's chin comfortingly. "My..." it was hard on Raven. Jinx lifted her arm and held her across the waist, gently stroking circles on her back. "He never kissed me, either. He said he wanted to make it special, once he was in his full power. Turns out I wasn't special. All I was to him was a means to escape his prison." She trembled, closing her eyes. "And the rest of... what he did... wasn't special to him either. Nothing I allowed him to do was special to him."

Jinx coaxed Raven closer and held her. Neither of them said anything for a long while, simply enjoying each other's company, borrowing each other's strength.

"What are we, Raven?" Jinx asked at last.

"We're... something," she sighed.

"I mean..." Jinx adjusted herself to make Raven more comfortable. "You know how I feel about the... binding."

"...I know," said Raven. "Even though I trust you, I know that matters so much. It matters to me too. And there's some other things I want to resolve with you later before we're... official. So I guess... we're not quite girlfriends? Yet?"

"So you were right. We're something, together."

Raven snorted into her neck, tickling her, and she laughed.

"...So glad to be something with you, Pinky."

"Same to you, Sunshine. Heh. You gave me a nickname."

"I thought I'd say Lucky, but... something told me you wouldn't like it?" Raven frowned, and Jinx felt her brow wrinkling against her, the gem making a little indentation on her cheek. Her mirror-memory clearly wasn't perfect.

Jinx smiled. "You can call me that, sweetheart. But only you."

They lay still for a bit longer.

"Let's not tell the boys," said Jinx.

"Oh, Azar, no," agreed Raven, horrified. "And probably not the Titans."

"Especially Starfire."

"Agreed."

"So let's not... kiss, in public. Yet."

"Yes." Raven smiled. "You're so shy about saying that. It's sweet. You toss terrible innuendoes at me all the time, but a little kiss makes your heart flutter. You're just a big softy like me after all."

"Hey, it means I can keep flirting shamelessly with you in public without changing anything about how I behave. Win-win." Flirting. Now that she admitted it out loud, it seemed so obvious to her that this was what she’d been doing all along.

"So... is now a good time for me to admit I've crushed on Beast Boy?"

Jinx somehow found the strength to retrieve her pillow and hit Raven with it, laughing. "No way! Shut up!"


	13. Trust

Jinx's fever stuck with her through the next day, which in practice meant she got pampered by an apologetic Raven, so she just chalked it up to her new appreciation of her own luck.

Raven delivered lots of status reports to her throughout the day. The city was quiet, for the moment. Gizmo completed the trophy room with input from Raven, and Mod's staff and Mumbo's hat were - reluctantly in the latter case, as Jinx still thought she looked quite fetching in it - transferred to their own cases. And Jinx, having had time to think, realized Raven hadn't seen a lot of movies.

Beast Boy and Cyborg had their acquired tastes in cinema, and Robin didn't much care, so their selections dominated Titan movie nights since Raven and Starfire had no real frame of reference at all. Raven had seen horror movie sequels from franchises with seven or more entries, each schlockier than the last, but had never even heard of Alfred Hitchcock, only seen glimpses of musicals, and romance wasn't even on her chart as something movies did.

For the HIVE, movie nights were a much more chaotic affair - when they even happened. They certainly didn't schedule them most of the time in favor of the all important Ice Cream Day. This meant that Jinx had ended up with her own screen and selection in her room which she took out as opportunity struck, and a mild fever was just about the best opportunity there was. She would never, in a million years, admit to being the biggest cinema nerd in the base.

Raven was absorbed by the unfamiliar cinematic styles for most of their viewing, leaving Jinx to be enraptured by her - well, not girlfriend. But close. She felt like things had progressed way beyond her control. In four days they'd gone from imprisoning in the basement to lunch in a restaurant. On the morning of the seventh they'd kissed - this very morning. It still made her head spin.

"So," Jinx ventured as one movie ended, Raven still caught up in analyzing what she had seen. "I'm thinking, maybe we should go on a date?"

"We already did," said Raven.

"Excuse me? When?"

"You took me out for lunch at that restaurant."

"That was lunch. We weren't even kissing by then. Dates are for when you want to impress and get to know someone and learn their boundaries and see if you're a good match and stuff."

Raven looked at Jinx, amused. "Why did you take me out to that restaurant?"

"Well, I..." Oh. She'd even named it Operation Get To Know Raven. "...To learn more about you, actually."

"And you dressed to impress. I was impressed. You even got me to dress up. You matched our outfits."

"Right, okay, I concede that."

"...And what did we discuss?"

Jinx grimaced. "Our boundaries."

"And did we find out we were a surprisingly good match? and proceed from there?" said Raven, her smugness palpable.

Jinx glared at Raven, but smiled regardless. "You know what, Raven? When Knowledge was lecturing me, she wasn't nearly this smug, but somehow I like it more when you do it and get all super smug about it. How does that work?"

"You're into me, that's what."

"Well, your analysis is missing something. We can't just call it a date retroactively. I say we both had to have at least some feelings for each other for that to count."

"...I am counting from the day I realized I might have some feelings for you. When you opened up to me there, it was the first time I knew I really felt something different for you. I just didn't really know what it was, yet. It scared me a little."

"Oh." Jinx blushed. "I... yeah, I was already thinking about you by that point, too."

"I thought you might. I didn't know what it was you were emoting at my empathy, except that it was... nice. And honest. More honest than I'd ever expected from you, like everything else about you."

"Even the bits that were just me being really horny?" she asked, cheekily.

Raven swatted Jinx's hair. "...You're always horny."

"Wooow, Raven. Wow. How dare you."

"Like this," Raven said, leaning in for another tiny kiss on her mouth before retreating, leaving Jinx's heart fluttering. It was just their third kiss like that. They'd moved fast, but apparently found it comfortable to take things slow. "Pick another movie. That last one was really interesting. I'll get you some more snacks."

"I'm still going to ask you out again soon. Properly."

"...I look forward to it," Raven said, looking at her over her shoulder. Jinx was comfortably reminded of Desire as Raven left the room.

Jinx lay back, thinking about this crazy week she'd had, barely believing half of it. She then thought about what they'd figured about her powers. The more she blasted others with bad luck, the better her own luck seemed to be - including when things happened by accident around her. It was something she'd never known or articulated but seemed incredibly obvious to her in retrospect. Raven didn't want to nail it down yet, but Jinx thought it might be some kind of hyperactive karmic balance deal. She'd now also figured out she might one day learn how to concentrate that power in herself, allowing it to guide her more consciously and for longer periods - with a lot of training and slow figuring out of stuff, of course.

She idly wondered if the reverse was true. If she could absorb luck, could she distribute it too? Give a little bit of that fortune trance away? She'd left some of her power on Raven last night. It was... enticing. Like a grand new world had opened to her. She'd been settled on forever being bad luck to her comrades. Now, she might end up being able to give someone a bit of good luck. Someone like Mammoth, perpetually down on his. He didn't complain, but the guy deserved a break.

When Raven came back, it wasn't with snacks, but with a frown. "What's up, Rae?"

"Mammoth turned on the news." After the debacle from their first outing, the HIVE had informally adopted the No News policy for the time being, but habits were hard to break. Raven seemed worried.

"What's the damage?"

Raven simply picked Jinx up. Jinx was too weak to fight it. "Hey!"

"It's better if you see for yourself."

Fortunately only Mammoth was in the living room at the moment, or else Jinx would never have lived this moment of weakness down, being in a full on princess-carry in Raven's arms again while wrapped in a blanket. She immediately noticed what the problem was.

"-Cinderblock, Plasmus and Overload have all been spotted throughout the city, each on a destructive rampage. There is no information at this time as to-"

Mammoth cut in. "It's Professor Chang. You know, that weird genetics guy. He sent out the alert to our contacts pretty much ten minutes before he let them all loose. Who knows what he wants." Jinx had never really wondered where Mammoth went to get his information, but he was never wrong. Of course, he also never got the information he was really looking for.

Jinx shook her head and regretted it as her fever acted up. "Wow, I remember when we got at least a week in between attacks and villains. What's going on lately?"

"Probably still me being off the Titans," said Raven. Something felt off about that as an answer to Jinx, though. "Jinx, you can't fight like this. Especially not all three at once."

Jinx looked from the TV to Raven and back to the TV. "Raven, take my HIVE communicator. I'll borrow Mammoth's. I'm giving you permission to leave the base whenever you want, and you can use the comm without my say so. Probably should have rescinded those orders sooner."

Raven looked at her.

"Do what you gotta do, girl. Just make sure Chang knows why he's being taken down. I... a lot is riding on this plan working. This might be the break we need."

Jinx left it unspoken. Her and Raven were riding on it. It was the only way out of what was happening that Jinx had thought of, even if it was a roundabout long shot.

"...And if the Titans are around-"

"Help them if you want. Go kick some ass. Say hi to Cyborg for me." Jinx looked at Mammoth, seeing him absorbed in the TV, and discreetly kissed Raven's cheek.

Raven deposited Jinx on the sofa, tucked her in, and fetched the communicator. "Be back soon, Lucky."

"Counting on it, Sunshine."

Jinx sat still as Raven left, watching the news, waiting for the purplette to appear in front of the cameras.

"She's good for you," Mammoth said.

"Yep."

"...Maybe good enough."

Jinx looked at Mammoth. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you when you grow up."

Jinx was too weak to even throw a cushion at him, instead just sticking out her tongue.

  
  
  
  


 

The problem with this whole splitting-up strategy, as far as Cyborg was concerned, was that they could take down each one in turn much faster and safer. Just knock over Plasmus, tilt Cinderblock, and then drain Overload with no problem.

"HEY! Sparky! You wanna take your complaint up with me instead of that taco stand?"

It would mean he wasn't facing Overload alone, for one thing. But the problem with that, as Overload crunched the taco stand between its giant fists and threw it at Cyborg's head, was that the city's citizens and taco stands would be at threat while they were busy in one place.

Unacceptable. Dubious street taco meat was a sacred Jump City institution.

Cyborg simply punched the incoming projectile, his fist going clean through it. His hand then transformed into a sonic cannon and fired at the electric beast's center of mass, staggering it and shattering the remnants of the distraught taco stand off his arm.

"Can you do us both a favor and just give it up now-AH!" Cyborg had missed an electric tendril that had extend behind him, shocking his back. He stepped on it, crushing it. "Okay, now you're just trying to make me mad!"

They'd hoped the trick that had worked on Rancid's giant machines would work on Overload, but the thing had just adapted to the software-scrambling bomb and reformed as large as before.

What he wouldn't have given to have her to help right now.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

A torn-up light pole rose from the earth and impaled Overload to a nearby building from behind. Cyborg looked up and saw Raven floating towards them.

"Raven! Am I glad to see you? Where's your new arm attachment?"

"...She was yours first," she quipped back. Cyborg smiled, glad to hear Raven's voice and attitude, but his cybernetic eye picked up something dangling prominently at Raven's waist. A HIVE communicator.

"Guess she still has you on a leash, huh?"

"...It's an ongoing negotiation. Duck."

"Wha-" Cyborg barely ducked in time for another crushed object to fly over his head. He looked back, and saw that Overload had simply walked through the pole pinning him. He fired the sonic cannon at Overload's feet, causing it to stagger and fall.

Raven immediately knew what he was doing, recognizing Attack Pattern Gamma, and called on her power again. Water Mains across the street were ripped open, showering the electric foe, spreading and dissipating the electric charge keeping it solid.

Cyborg smiled and did a rocket-boosted jump, lifting his fist for the final blow at the beast's center. "BOOYAH!"

Overload blew itself apart, and Cyborg took hold of the chip that controlled the whole thing. He took out a containment unit from a hidden compartment in his torso and slid it in. "Sorry, Rae, but your girlfriend ain't keeping this one. We still don't know what she's up to with the other stuff. I'm just glad to hear your voice again."

"I'm not sure she knows what she's doing with it either."

Cyborg grinned. "But she is your girlfriend?"

Raven... blushed. It was such an unusual sight that Cyborg's face fell. "What! I was kidding!"

"...She's not quite my girlfriend, no. She says hi, though."

"Oh." Cyborg thought about this. "Not quite, huh. Is this the big secret Starfire has been squirming over since she flew off with Jinx?"

"...Secret?"

Cyborg got a signal from Robin before he could answer. "Cyborg here."

"Cyborg! What's your status?” A crash indicated that Robin was still fighting Cinderblock. “Star and Beast Boy are having trouble with Plasmus!"

"Just got done here. I'll go help. Cy out." The half-robot teen gestured to the T-car. "Wanna hop in?"

Raven smirked. "...It’s not like there’s better things to do."

They went to the car, Cyborg's internal systems interfacing with it and updating him on the location of Plasmus. "Dang, that pile of goo's in the sewage treatment plant and got into the chemical waste reducer. That's gonna be rough. Strap in!" He drove off, the custom GPS figuring out the most efficient route for him.

"...So what's this about Starfire keeping secrets?"

"She flew off with Jinx. She said it was to help you, but she’s been weird and cagey about what happened. Was that crazy stuff really you losing control?"

"...I'll just say yes."

"Okay, cool. Robin was pretty mad but Starfire argued him down eventually, BB and I backed her up on that. Still kinda tense between them right now."

Raven growled. "I'll have to tell him to apologize. She was... very helpful."

"Oh, he knows. He's just stubborn."

"...Still going to work him over."

Cyborg laughed. A week hadn't changed Raven. Why would it have? He had worried over nothing. "But there's something she's been giggling and squirming about since then and she won't tell anyone what it is, too. Whatever it is, it's made her real happy. So... what's up with you and Jinx, Raven?"

Raven shrugged. "A lot. You were right about her, Cy. She's a very good person, even if she's the last one to admit it."

"How much is a lot?"

"...Not enough to tell."

"Hey, she already had you calling her 'mistress', so-"

Raven groaned. "Don't start on her bullshit, please."

"HAH! I knew it. She's into you." Raven looked at him curiously. "She only does that with people she likes, Rae. Really like-likes. Did you ever see her do that with Billy or Mammoth? She loved making me blush with that mouth of hers."

"...Oh." She seemed to think about this. "Oh, wow. She was doing that almost from the beginning. I wonder if she realizes."

Cyborg grinned. If only BB had taken that bet, he'd be winning right now. Then he frowned. "She's kind of got herself in big trouble over you, though. I mean, even if you wanted to date a villain, there's the whole kidnapping-"

"-She knows, Cyborg."

"Doesn't it occur to her to turn herself in? Reduced sentence, maybe even parole? I mean if you like her too... we could help her. Really help her. Vouch for her to the authorities and stuff. I'd back you up. Pretty sure Star would too, and that's a three-to-two vote, and that's only if BB doesn't decide to trust you on this too."

"She feels... stuck. She wouldn't abandon her crew. And... it's like she's in too deep to get out. I wish I could..." A red glow from her startled cyborg, nearly causing him to drive onto a sidewalk.

"WHOAH! I hate seeing those rune things!"

"...I can not seek my own escape from Jinx. I can't talk about it, or this happens. Sorry."

Cyborg adjusted his internal systems to compensate for the increased heartbeat. "Damn. Bet that doesn't make it easier."

"...I just want to help her right now. We... both have things to work out."

Cyborg got serious for a moment. "There's also another elephant in the room here. You know it. Does she show little acts of kindness? Are you in continuous contact? You are basically a hostage."

"I know. I had doubts about what I was feeling. Those are classic stockholm syndrome signs to law enforcement. She even brought it up herself."

"Had doubts? You don't anymore?"

"...I can read her better than I could at first. Her emotions are harder to read than most people I meet. At least as far as her feelings are concerned... I trust her."

Cyborg grimaced. "The courts don't take empathic readings as evidence, Rae. The longer this goes on, the more fodder Robin is going to get to not include your opinion in what happens to her. And the more the rest of us are going to start worrying too. Whatever she does, it has to happen soon."

"I haven't stopped trusting you guys, stopped trusting the authorities, or started approving of what her friends do. She's not turning me against you, either."

"Maybe that's enough." Cyborg drove on. Just five more minutes. He glanced at Raven's odd choker, which under any other circumstances would actually suit her. "So... this is a demonic binding, right? That's definitely a thing? We got some help from the Justice League to find that out."

"Yes. Zatanna knows her demons," she said coldly. Cyborg knew there was history there.

"And does Jinx... know?"

"...No. Not yet. I'm just not sure what might happen. She's already bound me. What if she learns about me, and decides she was right the first time around? What if I turn out to be the monster she wanted all along?"

"Raven? Two things. If you're serious about this, if you trust her, find a time to tell her. And two... she'll not judge you too badly. Trust me on that."

"...Are you sure?" Raven's eyes were wide. Vulnerable. She wanted this to be true.

"Positive. If she's sticking with you after seeing you out of control, she's sticking with you for life unless you betray her."

"Then... I'll tell her soon. Very soon. Thank you. And... She forgives you, too."

Cyborg felt like a weight had been taken off his shoulders. "I bet you had something to do with that, right?"

"...Just a bit."

He smiled. "Get ready for Plasmus. We're coming in hot. And say hi to her from me too!"

  
  
  
  
  


Jinx felt a tiny bit guilty, leaving Raven's communicator on. A tiny bit. What she'd just heard certainly was interesting.

How the hell was Cyborg such a good guy, anyhow? She was pretty sure he'd done football. She didn't have a lot of positive associations with that sport after Private Hive, as good a soldier as he'd been for the HIVE's private little army. She couldn't believe the Titans - The Teen Freaking Titans! - were actively talking about helping her!

But she couldn't take that offer. It would mean abandoning her crew and everything she’d built for herself. Something in Jinx told her that a week ago she'd have rejected it out of hand without even thinking of them first, but she ignored that.

She watched the news helicopter focus in on the ongoing Plasmus battle, the newscaster excitedly exclaiming that Raven had apparently rejoined her teammates. How little they knew.

And... how little she knew. Raven had been holding something back, Jinx knew that. She'd harbored little doubts, just like Jinx did. But her secret was apparently bad enough, so terrible, that it made Raven afraid that Jinx would just break it off then and there. And it had to do with the binding. Jinx resolved to wait for Raven to tell her.

But Raven had also said she trusted her. She felt a warm feeling bubbling up within her, which quickly plummeted when she realized what she was doing.

Listening in on someone you were supposed to trust, spying on them, wasn't what someone in innocent little puppy love did. It was just abuse of someone's trust.

Jinx quickly turned off the communicator and threw it across the sofa, as far away from herself as possible. She breathed hard, panicking just as she had the night before. What the hell was she doing?

Just what I've always done, she thought. Just what I've learned to do. What I learned to do at the Academy. The Academy where he'd ruled everything and everyone.

She stood unsteadily and headed to the bathroom, feeling ill again. That was twice in one day she'd made herself sick.

  
  
  
  
  


She was back in bed by the time Raven got back. She had her back to the Titan. She heard Raven put something on the shelf.

"Doctor Chang's goggles. Snagged them before Robin could take him in. I thought you might want them."

That was Raven, thinking of her first. Her guilt tied her stomach in knots.

"What's wrong, Jinx?" Of course. Raven immediately sensed what the problem was. She felt her hand on her forehead, stroking her gently down her cheek, and turned to look at her.

There was nothing but concern in those big eyes. Concern for her. Jinx felt disgusted with herself.

"Raven," she whispered. "I need to tell you something."

Raven lay down by her, holding her again. Jinx turned herself around, facing her.

"I-I lied to you. I-" She had to find the words.

Raven still said nothing. Why was she not saying anything? Just stroking her hair, as if everything was okay?

"I left your communicator on. I heard you talk with Cyborg."

Raven's hand stopped. There it was. That was the moment she had been bracing herself for.

"I shouldn't have. I shouldn't have spied on you. I just fell right into old habits. I thought I was being clever. Or smart. They told us to be paranoid as if it were the best way to be. But that's not what you do to someone you trust. That's how you abuse them. I'm actually turning into him-"

"...No. No, Jinx. You're not."

"Be angry with me, Raven!" Jinx raised her voice. "Just... show me something! Anything!” She felt angry at Raven’s understanding and kindness. She wanted some reaction, some outburst.

Raven stroked her. "Look at me, Jinx."

She did, and her breath caught. A tiny red glare was visible deep in Raven's eyes. The red glare of Anger, staring out at her.

"I am angry. Does that make you feel better?"

Jinx calmed down, even more ashamed. "...No. I don't know. I don't know what I want. I just deserve it."

"You do know what you want," Raven said. "You don't want to be him. You don't want to be that person. And you're not."

"How can you say that?"

"Because you feel guilty about it. You regret it. You told me. You're apologizing, and I sense how much you mean it. Would he have done that for you?"

Jinx looked her again in the eye. The red glare had receded.

Raven put the back of her hand against Jinx's forehead and tutted. "Good Azar, Jinx, this fever has messed you up bad. You're a wreck. I seriously shouldn't have pushed you so hard."

Jinx hugged her hard. But once again, she didn't cry. "Raven... being this side of the fence, being who I've always been... it makes me that person I don’t want to be. It’s turning me into that person by making worse and worse things seem more okay and I didn’t even realize it. I’m already in the lifer trap. How do I stop? How can I stop?"

"By letting people help you. Just like you helped me."

Jinx sighed. She just didn't know. She felt Raven's answering sigh.

“Jinx, who do you want to be?”

“I don’t know. Who can I be other than me? I’m a mess.”

“...Anyone you like.” Raven pressed her forehead lightly into Jinx’s, the gem somehow feeling just fine against Jinx’s forehead. “You called me a hero. Is that who you want to be?”

Jinx frowned. “I’ve disliked heroes my entire life.”

“...Until we kissed, you mean.”

Jinx chuckled weakly, not really feeling it. “Okay. Fair.”

“So don’t try to be one. Not yet, anyway. You helped me when I was being a mess, it’s only fair. Besides, I want my brazen pink-haired thief back. Moping doesn't suit you.”

Jinx felt herself blushing at being called hers and looked Raven deep in the eye, finding nothing but comfort she didn’t feel like she deserved. “You know, I almost expected some kind of speech here. Rise above your roots, be a good person, renounce your ways, that sort of thing.”

“...Maybe a melodramatic speech about how I can sense the good in you and how I can rescue you from your life of crime?” Raven deadpanned.

Jinx giggled. “Okay, maybe not from you.”

“...You already want to be a good person, Jinx. And I wouldn’t like you if I didn’t see a good person in you. Just be who you need to be to get there, even if that means being a criminal."

Jinx didn’t feel like a good person, but kissed Raven's cheek anyway and sat in her lap again, straddling her, feeling gratified at Raven’s shortened breath in her ear as Raven enveloped them both in her cloak. A feeling of comfort and warmth enveloped Jinx completely.  

"Raven? You... don't have to tell me about whatever it is. Not tonight. I don't think what you have to say is worse than what I'm doing anyway."

Raven went stiff. "...We'll see when you hear it."

Jinx held Raven close, very much feeling like she didn’t deserve having her. Then she had a thought. “Um. Raven? Was that our first fight?”

“...Don’t tell Starfire we had one.”


	14. Beside Yourself

Jinx felt better the next morning. Doctor Chang's techno-goggles became the third item of honor in the trophy room, and Gizmo managed to steal a bit of crushed gear from Doctor Light to go with them. Four seemed like a good number to send a message.

Gizmo set up the recording equipment. Together, he and Jinx recorded a mission statement. They hemmed and hawed over editing, interspersing news footage (Jinx absolutely insisted on her flattering shot from the Mumbo encounter) with shots of the HIVE logo on the trophy cases, complete with informational flash cards explaining each villain they'd defeated. The message was simple.

Jump City was theirs. If you wanted to operate, you cut a deal with the HIVE or the HIVE dealt with you.

The video spread like wildfire. Mumbo, Light and Mod were one thing, but Chang was fairly serious business, and some footage of Raven helping to take down Overload while wearing HIVE gear, with Cyborg edited artfully away, hit the point home that Jinx had done some serious work on her team. And when the news got a hold of it, the networks ran wild.

Notably absent was any official response from the Teen Titans.

Things kept being awkward throughout the day between Raven and Jinx. The confident high from declaring her ownership of Jump City had crashed into her ongoing torrent of self-doubt.

What if she really was just doing a variation of what Mad Mod had and brainwashing Raven into caring about her? Raven hadn't shown any sign before of being into girls. Or, anyone, really. Between Beast Boy and her and the one other person that she refused to mention otherwise, Raven didn’t seem to be that into normal humans to begin with. Jinx examined her actions, questioning every little touch, every act of kindness she'd extended towards Raven. She'd started this whole mess by deliberately trying to get a little empathy with Raven at that restaurant. Wasn't that just emotional manipulation like Cyborg had hinted at? Of course it was. On and on her thoughts went in circles like this.

Raven had eventually declared Jinx to be insufferable to be around and had left to read one of Jinx's books, still not having dipped into her own collection. She had her now freshly-made Gizmo-enhanced communicator on in case Jinx needed her, but Jinx had noted how she'd checked carefully whether it was broadcasting before clipping it to her belt. She hadn't told them where she was going. The boys weren't faring much better, choosing to ignore Jinx as much as they could. She could get dangerous when she was like this.

That didn't help her mood either.

There was a really simple way to test all this, of course. Just let Raven go. Stay apart a little while and assess their relationship. Then get some help, turn herself in, go through the entire process, try to be a better person.

Yeah. Simple. Right.

For want of other things to do and a need to lie low, Jinx fetched the items left in the summoning room. She arranged Raven's books on a shelf she cleared and labelled as Raven's own. She took out the bunny plushie and put it on her nightstand, where it clearly and obviously belonged. She took the mirror, took a foam-filled toolbox from Gizmo's workshop and carefully placed it within, not wanting to damage it. Was it her imagination, or had she seen a distant reflection within it, winking?

Then came Billy, bearing news to Jinx in the kitchen.

"Hey, Boss! Killer Moth is asking our permission to do something tonight downtown!" "Darndest thing I ever saw, Billy!"

Jinx froze. Somehow, somewhy, in the midst of planning to hold the city's villains hostage to her desires to make them respect her, it had never occurred to her that they'd actually come to her asking permission.

"What's he up to, Billy?"

"Something to do with throwin' some party for his little girl." "Yeah, Kitten! Now there's a lady I'd ask out!"

Jinx shuddered. "You know what, Billy? Please. Please do that. On camera. I want to see her reaction."

"Really? Hot dang, boss! Consider Billy invited!" "Wait, that means Moth has permission, right?"

Jinx had to think hard. Giving him permission meant not interfering. It meant holding Raven to the plan, without commanding her to. Time to trust her.

"He has it," she said. "Tell him this time's free, aside from your invitation. A present for his little girl, so long as he doesn't cause too much havoc." And totally not because she had no idea what to even ask for as a cut because she hadn't planned that far ahead.

She had to tell Raven. She fired off a simple message.

My Ray of Sunshine  
  
B Advised Klr Moth downtown tonight. Party for Kitten. We r uninvited. xoxo(Kiss Mark )(Growing Heart )  
  
You have plenty of characters to spell properly with, you know. Somehow I'm not heartbroken about missing Kitten's party. See you soon.

Jinx smiled at the sentiment for Kitten, then frowned. Oh, no. Raven was a texting nerd. First major problem in this relationship spotted. Then came a second text.

My Ray of Sunshine  
  
B Advised Klr Moth downtown tonight. Party for Kitten. We r uninvited. xoxo(Kiss Mark )(Growing Heart )  
  
You have plenty of characters to spell properly with, you know. Somehow I'm not heartbroken about missing Kitten's party. See you soon.  
  
(Purple Heart )

Nevermind. All was forgiven.

  
  
  
  
  


The rest of the day passed without incident, with the HIVE thoroughly enjoying the spectacle on TV that night. Billy dressed in a tux (but kept his mask on), got into a fight with Kitten’s yet again off-again boyfriend, tripped up the Titans when they arrived on the scene and generally made a nuisance of himself, all of which made sure everyone knew the HIVE was present and approved of the goings-on. Even Raven seemed to enjoy it, since she apparently didn’t regard Moth as a threat to the Titans.

For the first time in a while, things seemed to be looking up for Jinx. The news coverage was going right, she and Raven didn’t have as much awkward friction now that Raven had more space, and no villain was trying to kidnap or destroy her like they’d been the entire previous week. She whiled away the evening watching movies with the purplette on her arm and thought everything was maybe going to turn out alright.

  
  
  
  


Late next morning, after Raven had left to meditate in seclusion, Gizmo ambled into the kitchen. "Hey, Jinx! I was cleaning up some weird stuff from the trophy room, right?"

"So?"

"Well, take a look at this," he said, his backpack extending a limb that opened and projected a little holographic screen. "I found these on a disc in the corner. Guess that room used to belong to a teacher or something."

"Oh! I remember these! These are our old student profiles. Remember stealing those and turning them in without leaving any evidence behind for extra credit?" HIVE school nostalgia was weird.

"Yeah, except they're not the same."

"I guess? They must have updated them over time."

"No, Boss, I mean they're not the same. At all. These are way bigger. Check this out." He opened a file on Angel, another student at the academy. Her thing had been having angelic wings and not much else. Fittingly, she was the most awful person to be around.

Arranged all around the file were genetic information, histories, video files from around the school, it all looked pretty normal. Then she squinted.

"Profile of physical and psychological weaknesses, incriminating evidence, criminal record... And a listing named fake profiles?"

"Look at this stuff, Jinx! Those pit-munchin' teachers were keeping blackmail material on us!"

Jinx frowned and browsed her own file. There she was, sure enough. She also had a listing for a fake profile. She opened it and read it. She knew every word of it; it was the exact one she and her core HIVE gang had stolen and turned in. Then she looked at the real profile.

  
  
  
  


By the time Raven returned, Mammoth had been decked out in full explosive-resistant gear, Jinx had a gas mask on, and Gizmo had attached all kinds of weird detectors and and sensors all over his pack. Billy was helping Billy put on a hazard suit.

"...Uh," Raven ventured. "Did I miss a memo somewhere?"

"We're making a trip downstairs," said Gizmo. "There's some shady snot-munchin' stuff going on down there."

Jinx lifted the gas mask off her face. "Come on, I'll just show you. Shout when you're ready, boys."

Jinx sat Raven down in the couch and pulled out a little pad full of student profiles. "We found these on a disc in the trash from the trophy room cleanup."

Raven leaned over with some interest. "Wow, these are thorough. Full genetic analysis on every single HIVE member? All kinds of info here that would be valuable."

Jinx looked at Raven. "What?"

"...Sorry. I think I'm picking up some bad habits from you guys."

"Well, here's the thing," said Jinx. "You see these fake profiles here? Let me show you mine." Jinx opened her own file and opened the profile. "See? Bad luck, magical power with some trace elemental affinity, athletic, smart, origin unknown, the usual."

"Unknown?"

"I never told the HIVE where I was from," she said. "Just because they took me in doesn’t mean I trusted them. But here's the thing. This profile is something we all read. We stole these for extra credit and most of the students read this stuff about the others."

"...Why did you all read fake profiles of each other?"

"We didn't know they were fake. Look at my real one."

"Alias Jinx, real name... Kamala?"

Jinx felt a little weird, hearing Raven speak her old name. "I don't use it much. Please don't spread it around."

Raven smiled at her. "It suits you. Pink lotuses are very pretty."

Jinx shook her head, blushing a little. "Right, you'd know some words, huh."

"...I'm fluent in Sanskrit. Azarath mystics, remember?"

"Why am I not surprised. I'm a Hindi gal myself. But yeah, think about it. They somehow found my name and my origin. Read on."

"Subject experiences increased magical sensitivity when barefoot in natural environments..."

"Do I? I didn't know that! But there it is! There's other stuff, too. That thing we talked about where I seem to almost absorb luck into myself the more bad luck I cause? That's there. They call it "probabilistic drain," as if that’s a phrase that means anything. That wasn't in my other profile. How did they know when I didn't?"

"...I can think of several reasons," said Raven, unperturbed.

"What do you mean?"

"If they wrote fake profiles for you to steal, they must have written them specifically for your eyes. The information on them would have been carefully calculated for you for whatever ends the Academy wanted, rather than useful stuff for you. Probably enough to keep the students at each other's throats while not giving anyone too much of an advantage. And making you too powerful was the last thing the HIVE wanted."

"What?" said Jinx. "That doesn't make sense. They wanted us to be powerful so they could hire us to the highest bidder."

"...But not too powerful to control. It's logical." Raven nodded to herself, browsing more. "The lists of weaknesses, the incriminating records, even lists of unique genetic markers which would be useful to create targeted poisons or pathogens. It fits. Everything they need to use you, then take you down if necessary."

Jinx felt lightheaded. Raven was saying, perfectly matter-of-factly, that their school had been holding them back and even planning how to kill them if it had to, as if none of this surprised her. And it made sense. The HIVE had never been a place for charity or kindness, but this was more brutal than Jinx remembered. More calculated.

"...Jinx? You're a little pale. Are you alright?"

She shook her head. "As alright as anyone learning a lot of their life is a lie, thanks."

Raven put a hand on Jinx's arm. Jinx put her hand on hers, feeling herself recovering. Raven sighed. "...We can stop-"

"No. We can't. Because there's something in a few of these that caught our attention."

"...Like what?"

Jinx browsed to Billy Numerous and opened it. There was a special heading in his profile.

Raven frowned. "...What's a 'metahuman countermeasure package'? And why does it have a storage inventory number on level six?"

"That's what we want to find out. Wanna put on some gear and help?"

  
  
  
  


They descended beyond the summoning room and into a further sublevel of the old HIVE complex. Loose tiles, some of them having clearly exploded outwards, dotted the hexagonal corridors. Old ripped-up control panels sparked, or were silent. Strangely, there was almost no dust on the floors. Gizmo had a floodlight in his backpack, while the rest had cracked glow sticks to carry in their belts.

"What gets to me," said Billy inside his hazmat suit, "is how my real profile said I'd likely get into trouble if there was too much a' me to go around, or if Billies were apart too long. I didn't know that until the Titans figgered it out and used it to stop me. That might have been a mite bit useful to know sooner!"

"All of our stinkin' profiles were like that, Billy!" said Gizmo, running some kind of detector at the end of a robotic limb. "Mine said they restricted my tech deliberately! No wonder I always had to scrounge for the good stuff!"

Mammoth said nothing, stomping angrily in his padded explosion-proof suit.

"...What's up with you, Mammoth?" asked Raven, floating in the air in a conjured shell of black energy. Mammoth just grunted.

"His profile hinted that the HIVE knew something about his sister. He's been looking for her for years." Jinx's voice was muffled, but her gas mask was her only protection.

"And all of that time," rumbled Mammoth's voice, "they were hiding something from me. All of that time." He casually side-punched a wall panel, crumpling it like paper.

"Easy, Baran." Jinx patted his arm. "Don't want to accidentally punch a mine."

Mammoth bristled, but nodded.

Gizmo held up an arm, stopping the group. He pointed at the floor. "Got something. Jinx?"

Jinx nodded and sent a hex into the floor where Gizmo had pointed. Machinery fizzed and popped, and a cleverly hidden turret popped out of the floor spewing a tiny bit of black smoke.

"Gas grenade launcher." Jinx patted her mask. "That's why I got this."

"I just wish we could find the snot-munchin' power source for the old base and take it out," grumbled Gizmo. "That would take care of most of these frazzin' traps. Must be nuclear or xenothium or somethin' to be running this long."

"...And you had a bunch kids walking around here?" asked Raven.

"The traps got activated when it closed down. We guess there's a kill switch somewhere, but who knows." Jinx shrugged. "And we're going down to the sixth level, too. We've never been past the fourth since the school closed."

Raven, eyes widening, ever so slowly drifted closer towards Jinx's side and stayed there as they proceeded downwards.

Gizmo found two more traps, Jinx taking them out handily, before they reached the third level - the old dormitories and cafeteria.

"Honestly, none o' this would be too bad, " said Billy, "except that the dang traps move somehow. Never found no mechanism for 'em to do that so we don't know how that works. We can't even be safe takin' the same exact route back."

Jinx grinned. "Billy once got out of here by panicking and making a ton of more Billies to step literally everywhere."

"Billy was traumatized for weeks after. Right Billy?" Another billy popped up - inside the hazmat suit. Clearly his ability to copy even his clothes was limited. "That's right, Billy! Whoah, this is a bit snug."

"...And are any of the trips worth it?" asked Raven.

Jinx made a noncommittal sound. "I mean. Depends? We don't really come down here without a reason, like rare leftover gear we need for a job, or something someone left behind."

"Usually easier to just get what you need somewhere else, yeah," agreed Gizmo. "Fourth floor was the training courses and they get real nasty. Fifth floor was for teachers, and we learned sixth exists a couple of hours ago."

"...Reminds me of the time I let my fear get the best of me in the Tower once. The entire building turned into a horrific death trap for an entire night."

"How horrific?" asked Mammoth, curious.

"Think shadows that eat you and are really into bad scary movie tropes," said Raven, all but squishing herself into Jinx. "Not one of my proudest moments."

"We need to get you watching more actually good movies, Sunshine." Jinx stopped the group with a raised hand. "Hey, anyone else hear that?"

A slight rumbling sound came from the floor. Grinding and creaking noises echoed up and down the halls. Suddenly, something bounced out of the floor tiles in front of them. Before anyone could so much as shout a warning, Mammoth had jumped on top of it and closed his body around it.

There was a slight thud, and Mammoth twitched once. Then he got up, his explosion-proofed armor singed all along his belly. "Bouncing betty," he said by way of explanation.

"What?" asked Raven, staring at Mammoth in something like awe. Jinx smiled. She'd just learned another reason she loved having the big guy around.

"It's a type of landmine. Nasty stuff. Nice reflex there, Mam," said Gizmo, clearly shaken. "We usually see those on the fourth."

They passed some of the old rooms, still scattered with some of the detritus of former students. Here and there were old papers, filthy socks, slightly ripped posters on walls and occasional graffiti. Jinx smiled despite herself. This brought back a lot of memories, some of them even fond.

A blue and white flyer on the floor caught Raven's attention. She scooped it up with a black tendril of energy and looked at it, seeming sad for a moment.

"We found these scattered all over the school after Brother Blood got taken down but before the Academy was closed down proper," said Jinx by way of explanation. "Someone was offering trauma assistance geared towards surviving mind control and... stuff. I guess someone wanted to extend a little help to the kids."

"Yes, we did," Raven said wistfully.

The group stopped.

"Hold up. We? Who's we?" said Gizmo.

"...Cyborg and me. It was Cyborg's idea. We approached some Justice League members to at least try to help someone and got these. We snuck in here and left them around while the other Titans thought we were working in the garage."

"Oh." Jinx felt something catch in her throat. "Well, I'm pretty sure that didn't work out. Everyone figured it had to be a trap."

"Some kids did take the help," Raven said, much to Jinx's surprise. The HIVE kids had taken it as a point of pride not to fall for it. Or so she'd thought. "I don't know who or how many, but..." She didn't finish the sentence, instead stashing the old flyer somewhere in her cloak. She didn't meet Jinx's eyes. "We couldn't do enough. We never can for so many of these cases."

Gizmo, Mammoth and Billy looked awkward but said nothing, opting to move on. Jinx moved on too, but silently reached out a hand behind her, which Raven took. She was pretty sure Raven could sense her mixed feelings on this, but they couldn't dwell on it. They could only reassure each other with what they had.

  
  
  
  


The fourth level was when the missile batteries kicked in.

"Brace for impact!" shouted Gizmo. "They're firing in an Itano pattern!" His lasers switched to point-defense mode, sniping several out of the air.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven conjured multiple smaller shields, rather than one large one, intercepting as many as she could but minimizing the strain of doing so. Many still made it through, and Jinx danced around her, firing off hexes that made missiles veer off course into others, fly wildly or simply fail to detonate. Billy tried to multiply himself but just managed to fill out the hazmat suit with himself, which would have been funnier if they weren't being barraged.

The batteries adjusted themselves, moving on rails in the walls and on the ceiling, recalculating for an optimal firing angle. "Mammoth!" said Jinx. "Toss me!"

Mammoth swept Jinx up in his hand, took aim, and bombed her down the corridor like a football. She twirled, firing hexes in all directions, the missile batteries breaking and falling apart all around her, before she tucked into a perfect roll and came up standing like a gymnast.

The HIVE members and Raven gave her some polite applause.

"Oh come on, that was gold medal stuff," she said, her grin as wide as it could go.

"...Where do they even get fresh ammunition?" asked Raven.

Gizmo snorted. "Hey, that's nothing. Last time we were down here these things were all broken."

"Is someone down here fixing them?" Raven asked.

"How could they be?" said Jinx. "Why would they be?"

"Why would they just come back on their own?" Raven replied.

"Can it, girls, this is old news. It's time to breach the fifth level." Gizmo went up to a security door and started working on it.

"The only times we ever went down there was for extra credit stuff like stealing our own profiles," said Jinx to Raven as they waited, Mammoth and Billy standing guard. "Theoretically up here in the training rooms is where the worst of it is, but in practice... we had some real hardasses for teachers. And the HIVE wanted them to be good. It wasn't unheard of for one to suddenly go missing and be replaced with no explanation. We don't have a good idea what to expect, and usually less reason to go down there."

"...And you were top of the class in this school?"

"Yeah," said Jinx. "I'm somehow not as proud of that lately. Feels like I have to unlearn more than I learned."

"The further you go, the more you leave behind," said Mammoth grimly. Raven was almost startled at the insight from him. She'd only been around Mammoth for a week and change, Jinx reminded herself. The guy had his moments but you had to stick around for a while to catch one.

Jinx looked at Billy in his hazmat suit. He'd been more quiet the closer they got. They were, after all, down here for something to do with him. She wondered if he was regretting the decision, but it was too late to back out now with nothing to show.

"Got it," said Gizmo, and the door hissed open. "It's weird, the system was a bit different than I remember."

They proceeded down the corridor, Mammoth taking the front with Gizmo, Billy making up the rear. There certainly were some offices, complete with broken computers and filing cabinets and desks with mugs like 'World's #1 Dad'. Almost distressingly normal compared to the ones that weren't. One was filled with glass canisters of unknown phosphorescent liquid lining the walls. Another was just a pit filled with gnawed bones that looked like someone had slept in it. A third seemed to be nothing but a thick mess of dusty spiderwebs, with broken-open cocoons that were clearly too large to be for flies. One just had a straight up vampiric-looking coffin they decided not to disturb, flanked by brass tubing and odd bubbling liquids.

A skittering sound made Gizmo jump. He directed the flood light on his pack to the side, and everyone saw... something... move quickly out of the way.

"Probably just a rat," said Mammoth.

"...one that's survived all these traps?" asked Raven.

No one said anything for a moment.

"Probably not a rat," corrected Mammoth.

Small metallic sounds filled the darkness around them as the offices gave way to more corridors. Jinx thought she could occasionally see eyes, but it was obviously just her imagination.

Up until Gizmo's lights revealed a pair of eyes attached to a head, dead ahead. It was human-shaped, but the eyes were glassy, attached to a black helmet with an orange circle on it.

"Slade!" whispered Raven. "This is one of his robots! What’s it doing here?"

As soon as she said it, the robot jumped, disappearing into a vent in the ceiling. A lot more noises followed.

"We have to keep moving!" said Jinx. "If Slade is in here-"

"He's not," said Raven. "He's quite dead."

"How are y'all so sure, Raven?" said Billy, the first thing he'd said in a while.

Raven didn't say.

"Well, okay, don't tell us, but do tell me why Slade's robots are all up in the HIVE's business then!" said Billy.

"That I don't know. But I can guess."

A dozen Slade-bots barred their way forward. They turned down another corridor, only to be blocked by more. They reached a four-way intersection, but all four corridors had become blocked.

"Look at that!" said Gizmo. "What's that one doing?"

As he pointed, one of the robots - older and clearly damaged - was putting the finishing touches on a wall-mounted turret. It activated, aiming for the teens.

"They're the ones who are resetting the traps!" said Gizmo. "How long have they been down here?"

The robots closed in. "Okay, anyone got a plan?" asked Jinx.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Two-dimensional planes of black energy, in the shape of black rectangles, appeared all around the teens. They were pointed edge-first at the robots. Raven swung her arms around, and as one the black shapes flew down the corridors all around them, flying through the robots without a sound. They disappeared, and all was quiet for a second.

Then the robots fell apart, cut into precise vertical slices by the hyper-thin energy. Their mechanical innards spilled across the floor, spewing oil and sizzling electricity which fortunately didn't ignite the spreading liquid.

"Wow. I didn't know you could do that," said Jinx.

"...I try not to slice my living opponents into pieces," said Raven dryly. "It seems a bit drastic."

Jinx was reminded once again of a very pertinent fact; Raven held back against absolutely everyone. If she had ever wanted to simply destroy everyone she fought, Jinx doubted there would have been many survivors. She felt a huge surge of fondness and admiration for her.

Raven clearly sensed her emotion and hid her face deeper in her hood, embarrassed.

"Glad you're on our side," said Mammoth. "But also glad you're not too much on our side."

"You said it, big guy," said Gizmo. "Was that all of them?"

"...I doubt it," said Raven. "But I think I understand a bit better now. This is Slade's style. He left traps for the Titans to find after his death. Robot clones. Poison. Hallucinogenic nanite dust. His robot grunts were apparently made to be autonomous to a degree too, and must have holed up in here."

"Why here, though?" asked Jinx.

"For whatever that mysterious power source for the base is, or access to manufacturing able to make more robots, or simply because Slade knew it was there and it was handy at the time," said Raven. "Who knows exactly. We should get a move on and try to destroy any robots we find."

They navigated the tunnels more carefully and slowly, both from how unfamiliar they were and to keep a lookout for further ambushes. Jinx caught several robots spying on them and shattered them apart with hexes until finally the remnants seemed to get the message and left them alone. Then they found the entrance to the sixth level.

The door was different. Bigger. Rectangular, as opposed to hexagonal. The security panel was powered down and it seemed untrapped, so Mammoth simply pushed the two halves of it apart and opened it with muscle power. Behind it, the architectural style was completely different as well.

"This looks like a different facility," said Gizmo. "What snot-munchin' mess are we in now?"

Jinx shuddered a little. "Feels more... military. Or government. It's like the HIVE was just built on top of something that was already there."

"Definitely military," said Gizmo, shining a light on a crate in a side room. Within it were visible some heavily cannibalized rifle parts, clearly stamped 'Property of the U.S. Armed Forces.'

"Let's find that storage unit that's got my thing in it," said Billy. "I'm wantin' some dang answers."

They looked around the place. It seemed to be mostly storage. A label on a box caught Jinx's eye.

"Hey, Giz. What's 'Project Cadmus'?"

"Never heard of it," he said. Jinx looked at Raven, who shrugged, equally clueless. They walked down the corridors, looking at labelled storage rooms. Most were open, their contents looted or just gone. When they came to the one in Billy's file, it was closed. Mammoth quickly ripped the flimsy metal door open.

Inside the room was some kind of capsule, its contents not visible from where they stood, and nothing else. It was hooked into the wall, but the outlet seemed to have fried itself out at some point. It, too, was labelled 'Cadmus' on its side. Billy walked up to it before anyone else could see and stopped, staring, strangely sad.

"Oh, Billy," he said. "You're not looking so good, Billy."

The others walked up behind him and froze on the spot.

The capsule was a coffin. Inside it lay a skeleton wearing the costume of Billy Numerous.

  
  
  
  


"It makes a twisted kind of sense," said Raven slowly as they recovered back in the HIVE base living room. Billy was by his lonesome. He hadn't split once since what they'd seen down in the HIVE's sixth level. "If they knew your weakness was your clones being apart from each other too long, they could keep one as... a failsafe. A way to take you down."

Billy didn't say anything, and Raven blinked. "I'm sorry, Billy. I'm not good at... reassurance. I'm just... sorry."

None of the other HIVE members seemed to be good at it at the moment, either. Gizmo poked listlessly at some robot piece he'd taken with him. Mammoth lay breathing, with the only indication that he wasn't sleeping being that his snores weren't shaking the room. Raven floated next to Jinx on one end of the couch, and Billy occupied the other.

"Fuck the HIVE," said Jinx out of nowhere.

"Yeah," said Gizmo.

"Yeah," rumbled Mammoth.

"Yeah," nodded Billy, after a few moments.

Everyone turned to Raven.

"...Um. I never liked the HIVE to begin with." She looked a little sheepish.

Billy grinned and laughed, and the entire rest of the room - sans Raven, who just looked sullen - exploded into laugher with him.

"Well, I don't know about y'all," said Billy, "but I could go for some Mongolian barbeque takeout and root beer. My treat. Right Billy?"

For the first time in hours, another Billy popped out next to him. "Dang right, Billy. Let's make a night of it."

What followed was a strangely festive experience; they drank sodas and root beer, ate the food that everyone knew was neither Mongolian nor barbeque but agreed to call it that anyway, cracked jokes and laughed together. Even Raven played a game with Billy, a momentous occasion in several ways. As the night went on, Gizmo and and Mammoth nodded off to sleep, Raven secluded herself in some private location to meditate, and the base became quiet.

  
  
  
  


Billy stepped over the mess they'd left all over the place. For once, he was out of uniform; his messy mop of brown hair and blue eyes took in everything fondly, and silently. He had civilian clothes on, just jeans and a shirt and an old varsity jacket, and found Jinx waiting for him just outside the secret entrance, leaning against a brick wall. She nodded to him and motioned him over.

"Y'all figured me out, Boss?" he said.

"Yeah. I wouldn't stay here either. Clever to zonk everyone out with a party, though. Ugh, I almost want a cigarette again," she said, having kicked that short-lived habit since joining the HIVE years before. San Francisco hadn't been kind to a kid.

"And ye're not gonna ask me where I'm goin'?"

"Do you even know?"

"Nah," he said, shrugging.

Jinx shrugged back and retrieved an envelope from her pocket. "Obviously if you're going you can't get your take from the bank job," she said. "This is a big portion of what we have right now, but it's not much. It should help, though."

Billy almost refused it, but Jinx glared until he took it.

"Any plans?" she asked, looking out into the darkness of the street.

"Nah. At first I wanted to know more, or wanted to see somethin' done to whoever did it, or... somethin'," he said. "But then I got to thinkin'..."

"Yeah? New experience?"

"Har de har. I mean... Boss, what are we even doin'?"

"In general, or particular?"

"Both. I got into this to steal things and have fun and get back at the folks back home. But what do we wanna do with respect from people who do this kinda thing? Do we really wanna keep acting like the people who we jes' figured out lied to us wholesale, thinking we'll end up better at the end? Ain't we just gonna become the kind of people who think it's acceptable to lock up a poor Billy in a freezer in a basement like he's a magic bullet and lie to kids to make them do gruntwork?"

"The kind of people who think it's acceptable to keep a girl locked in their basement until she puts on an slave collar and obeys your every whim?" asked Jinx.

Billy was quiet.

"Yeah, I've been having that kind of thought lately too," she said, not looking at him.

Billy looked at her. "So that's yer angle," he said. "That's what all’a this has been really about since Raven. You want out."

"Do I now?"

"Yeah, even if you didn't know it right away."

Yeah. She did want out. More than ever. "I admit, Billy. I'm a little envious of you. It's so easy for you that you didn't even plan on saying bye. I wish that were me."

"Nah, Boss. Saying bye was just too hard, so I skipped that part. That's all."

Jinx blinked, and a tear did not form. "Then don't say it. See you around, Billy Numerous. Go figure your life out. Maybe we'll have each other's back sometime later."

"Sure thing, B-" he stopped. "Sure thing, Jinx. Keep havin' fun."

He walked away down the street. Jinx didn't watch his back as he walked away, instead staring at a sky too lit by the city's lights to see the stars.

  
  
  
  


When she got back to her room, she was met with a very annoyed Raven.

"Sup, Sunshine."

"...Explain. Now."

Raven held out the bunny Raven plushie Jinx had stolen from the Tower, her glare probably capable of killing small animals and sensitive children.

Jinx broke down laughing, and didn't stop for some time.


	15. Surprises

Gizmo hadn't taken the news about Billy very well. He was currently nowhere to be seen.

With two of the boys gone and the third sleeping off the previous day's feast, Jinx was left mostly alone with her thoughts on the couch, listlessly plinking away at the rhythm game she'd so disastrously mastered. She heard Raven waking up, making herself some breakfast, and joining her on the couch. Raven sat close to her, and Jinx accepted the silent invitation to lean her head on her shoulder. Raven tilted her head in answer, laying it on top of Jinx's, nuzzling herself into her hair, kissing the top of her head.

They stayed like that for a little while, enjoying the closeness.

"You know," Raven said, "I'd never have thought I'd miss him."

"Same," said Jinx. Jinx put the controller away and turned towards Raven, putting her arms around the Titan, nuzzling into her neck. "He's going to be fine. I know it. He just needs something different."

They were silent for a while after that.

"...I want to show you something," said Raven.

"What?"

"It's a place I like to go sometimes."

"I'm not up for crowds," said Jinx.

"...It's a place I like, Jinx. No crowds allowed."

Jinx smiled. "Okay."

Jinx felt Raven's hand under her chin, bringing their faces together. Raven kissed her, then suddenly deepened the kiss just a little. It was the furthest they'd ever gone, and Jinx moaned a little in surprise, closing her eyes, lost in the feeling.

Then Raven pulled back. Jinx felt fresh air washing over her, and smelled the sea. "Open your eyes," Raven said.

Jinx did. In front of them was an endless vista of ocean under a clear sky, the sun reflecting beautifully on its surface. Jinx looked down. They were sitting at the edge of some kind of building.

"Did you kiss me to distract me from that void thing you do?" asked Jinx, grinning at her.

"It worked," nodded Raven.

"Hm. We'll have to try that more often." Jinx looked back out at the ocean, leaning on Raven and sighing. "This is pretty. It's been a long time since I saw the ocean like this. Where did you take us?"

"...Want to take a guess?"

Jinx quirked an eyebrow and played along. "Well, we're oceanside. Not even the Tower is visible from here. Are we still in Jump?"

"Warm."

"Some kind of oceanside property by the northern harbor?"

"Cold."

Jinx looked around. The building they were on seemed to be longer than it was wide, or vica versa. In the distance she could make out a skyline. A familiar skyline. She snapped her head back around to Raven, smiling.

"You didn't!"

Raven smirked her tiny smirk.

"We're on the Tower? Are you kidding?" Jinx laughed, hugging Raven closer. "Please tell me we're in full view of the cameras. I'd love to see bird boy having a fit at this."

Raven shook her head. "We're in a blind spot. That's part of why I like it."

"It didn't even occur to me that you can just go there now. Come here now. Wow, that’s confusing." She grinned, transferring her butt to Raven's lap where it obviously belonged. "Let me guess. You’ve been reading and meditating in your own room for the last couple of days?"

"...Yep. You're good."

"And you're the best." Jinx kissed Raven, and they lingered for a while, enjoying and exploring each other more and more, Jinx letting Raven guide her hands whenever she hesitated. Then Raven pulled back, flushed, but unnerved, looking slightly away.

Jinx looked at her and kissed her cheek. "Is... it that thing you wanted to talk about?"

Raven nodded. "I... don't have a good way to broach the topic. I thought maybe the daylight would be best, but..."

Jinx leaned into Raven, stroking her back. "Take your time. It doesn't have to be today."

"...It kind of does."

"Huh? Why?"

"I... want you to know it. Before we go further. Before I get tempted to just let it slide and keep kissing you like I want to without considering your feelings. Before we go on a date for real. I feel like I can't wait any longer without hurting you."

Jinx felt her heart beat faster. "I kind of like that temptation myself, but you do you, sweetheart."

"But I also want you to be ready, because... it's about the Cult of Blood."

Jinx's heart slowed down again, but she didn't let go of Raven. She had to concede that Raven was right to be worried about her feelings. "It's okay," she said, not entirely sure it was.

Raven continued. "I told you about my mother. What I did not tell you about was..." Raven seemed lost for words.

"Your... father?" ventured Jinx.

"...No. A father is someone who raises you. I am just his offspring."

Oh. Now there was a sign of an emotional landmine waiting to blow. She gently stroked Raven, urging her to continue.

"...What do you know about who, or what, the Cult of Blood worships?"

Jinx tried to recall. "Well, I know Brother Blood wasn't really in it for worship. He just wanted power. That's why he obsessed over Cyborg and not you, I'm guessing, even with your history. Unless he just didn't know."

Raven shook her head, tightening her grip on Jinx's waist. "There is no possible way he didn't know who I was. I'm probably the real reason he was in Jump City at all. You see, the Cult of Blood started as a satanic cult. They were trying to summon the biblical Devil to worship him."

"Huh. Did they do it?"

"...No, they failed many ages ago. Besides, Lucifer quit the ruler of hell thing and now runs a nightclub in Manhattan. He's even less interested in worship now.”

Jinx looked the girl in the eye. "Raven, if it was anyone else saying that, I'd tell them to get the hell out."

"...Pun intended."

"Of course."

Raven nodded, accepting the obvious. "Well, They didn't find Lucifer. But they did find a demon, who identified himself to them as Scath."

"Scath... as in the Mark of Scath? The name I used to summon y-" And it hit her. Like a freight train.

Raven looked at her, searching for something in Jinx. Rejection. She was waiting for Jinx to reject her.

Jinx immediately kissed Raven on the cheek again.

"...You took that pretty well."

"Oh, that was for your benefit. I'm still processing this." Jinx took a deep breath. "So... you're not fully human," she said. "And... that's how I managed to summon you at all?"

Raven nodded. "I am the child of a demon. The child of Scath by my mother, who was offered as a sacrifice unto him. He is the being who fed on the mystic evils cast out by the monks of Azar, gaining strength, and passed that connection to her... and to me. I carried his mark on me long before you ever summoned me."

Jinx was stunned into complete silence. All she could do was watch Raven's eyes.

"But... it's worse than that."

"Worse?!" Jinx yelled. The word echoed down the Tower.

Raven flinched, looking away.

"Oh no, sorry Raven, I'm not..." Jinx stroked Raven's chin, bringing her head back around to look at her. "Please. Tell me."

"...Scath was one of the pseudonyms for a demon lord known as Trigon the Terrible."

"Oh. Wow. Oh wow. Wow. What." Jinx clutched herself tighter to Raven, feeling some of the strength leaving her limbs. But she didn't let go.

"I see you've heard of him," said raven, with no inflection at all.

"I'd be a pretty bad witch if I hadn't. I mean, worse than I am. It's... Raven, he's like a god. Like, more powerful than some actual gods. That's how you're so powerful. That's how you can do all those things. Why you need to hold yourself back against everyone."

"...Yeah."

"That's... Raven, please don't take this the wrong way or think I'm a freak or something, but it's kind of hot."

Raven didn't respond to that for several seconds. 

"...What," she finally said.

Jinx was shaking a little bit. "I mean! It's scary! It's terrifying, actually! But I'm hugging you. I've kissed you. I almost had a full-on kissing session with the daughter of a demon lord. The daughter of Trigon. Oh wow. I accidentally tried to summon Trigon. I'm probably only alive because I got you instead." The sensation of danger crawling up and down her spine made her tremble. If she'd been standing, she'd have been weak in the knees.

"...Uh. Oh."

Jinx couldn't hide her little shame from Raven. The feeling building in her was far too strong for Raven not to have sensed it, and she knew Raven had gotten good enough at reading her to interpret it correctly.

"You... like danger. Right. I should have remembered. I remember now, from when Anger tried to..." Jinx saw Raven's blush completely overtake her face, and her own probably matched it.

Jinx nodded, moving on to try to make it less awkward. "But... like, what would that mean for us? Is he going to smite me, or take my soul to his personal hell for defiling his daughter, or what?"

"...Hardly. He's dead."

"What? How?!" Jinx's raised voice carried down the tower again and she grimaced.

"I killed him."

Jinx flinched away from Raven for the first time, and Raven looked away again, hiding her eyes behind her hair.

"Raven... how is that even possible? How could that even be true? Is a being like him even able to die?"

"I was born for a reason. It was no accident that Angela Roth was sacrificed to him. It was no accident that he chose to... impregnate her. It wasn't even an accident that I was brought to Azarath to be raised there. Long ago, he sowed the seeds of a prophecy that would end the world, and from that moment he worked to fulfill it. I was to be his instrument in doing that."

Jinx had to remind herself to breathe. This was old magic. Terrible magic. "End as in..."

"The death of all life on Earth, and on Azarath. The domination of the planet. His foothold into our physical realm, from which he would conquer this reality and all its adjacent dimensions before devouring it like so much meat, drinking the mystic energies of Azarath like so much wine, and moving on to his next conquest more powerful than ever before. Powerful enough to perhaps no longer need any tricks at all to breach the barriers of his hell-prison ever again."

"But... you stopped him?"

"...No. I failed."

"...What?"

Raven looked Jinx in the eye. She was shocked to see tears in those wide, wonderful eyes. "Everyone died, Jinx. I fulfilled his prophecy on my sixteenth birthday. I resisted, and resisted, and strained all my life against it. I thought I'd ended it by leaving Azarath, but it didn't work. And then, I gave up. Every living being on the planet was petrified in an instant. Everyone on Azarath. My mother died. You died. Everyone in the HIVE died. Everyone."

Now it was Raven who was trembling in her arms. She held Raven closer. "But... I'm here. Alive." But even as she said it, she knew Raven was telling the truth. Anger's Hell had been no lie. She had seen Jump City's death as Raven really remembered it. Raven's greatest failure.

Raven shook her head. "I could only spare a few lives from their fate, and in my desperation, in my weakness, I chose the ones closest to me - the Titans. They found me, saved me. And in them, I found the strength to resist Trigon. I drained him of his fell energies and... undid it. I reversed the flow of time for the entire universe, Jinx. The universe he conquered, and which I in that moment had inherited fully. I can't even describe the feeling of near omnipotence I felt. I undid the curse of stone he'd laid on the world and returned everyone to life, none the wiser. But I'd still failed them. I still failed all of you. And all I have to show for it is being a killer."

Raven was full on crying now, and Jinx drew her in, letting her cry on her shoulder. She rocked her back and forth, making little comforting sounds.

"Oh, Rae. Oh, Sunshine. It's fine. You're okay."

Raven didn't hear her. "I've tried to justify it. If I hadn't, everyone would still be dead. If I hadn't, he wouldn't have been stopped. My friends have justified it, and accepted what I did. But killing isn't natural, Jinx. It should be hard. It should be a terrible decision. I've never told anyone this before, but all I felt, destroying his incarnation and... and cannibalizing his power, eating his soul, was joy and satisfaction and a thrill from the rush of power. It was the easiest thing in the world. That's when I finally and truly knew that I'll always be a demon."

Jinx no longer had words to say.

"I was... united, in that moment. Every aspect of me was as one. I felt at peace. But to feel at peace after doing something like that... that has to be monstrous. I am a monster."

"You're crying, Raven. You're crying so hard."

Raven's sobs were her only answer.

Jinx smiled, recalling Raven comforting her own guilt. "Do you really think you'd be crying if you didn't care? Do you think a monster would be crying this hard over having to kill one of the most evil beings in existence in self-defense so that everyone else could keep living? Maybe it's your nature to feel strange things sometimes, or take things differently than other people do, but so what? That's true for most people, and most people can still tell when it's appropriate or not. Just think of how differently we react when we’re afraid. Do you think everyone would have reacted like I did before to you? I'm still half afraid you'll call me a freak, Raven."

Raven's breath hitched, and she drew herself back enough to look at Jinx.

"You care so much, I bet the entire city would be in blackout right now from how sad you're feeling if we weren't out in the bay. You care so, so much, Raven. You have such a big heart underneath all that icy control. How long have you been bottling this in? Let it all out, sweetheart."

"You... don't hate me. Even though I scare you."

"Even though? Raven... Yeah. You scare me. You scared me before you told me any of this. I'm scared of hurting you. I'm scared of this stupid binding. I'm scared of losing you because of my dumb decisions or because I say something stupid. I'm so incredibly scared that I'm just forcing you to like me somehow, that I'm just like everything I hate. But I like being scared, too. And I still like you. And you are certainly not a monster. Me betraying your trust was much worse than you saving the universe."

"I... Jinx..."

"Let's just be a couple of scared girls together for a bit, Sunshine." Jinx kissed her, harder than she ever had, held her closer. Raven moaned, whether from shock or sorrow or their shared pleasure, and nearly made Jinx fall backwards with the sheer force of her answering kiss in turn.

Jinx couldn't believe her luck. Any of it. How had she even come to this moment?

Raven withdrew first and collapsed into Jinx, apparently exhausted. Jinx lay down on the edge of the Tower with her, gently holding her, stroking her head, until Raven fell asleep. Jinx wrapped them both up in Raven's cloak, letting Raven use her as a pillow.

So there was Jinx, in the early morning, with Raven in her arms, perched on the Tower like a pink little gargoyle. There was literally no more dangerous place for her to be, or a more dangerous person for her to be falling in serious love with, and she wanted the moment to last forever.

  
  
  
  


 

An hour later, she was about ready for the moment to end. She'd managed to transfer them down from the ledge when a gust of wind got a little strong for her liking, but Raven still lay sleeping with her head in Jinx's lap. Even so, Jinx couldn't bring herself to wake her up, so she just sat there, idly stroking her wonderful purple hair.

A metallic noise from across the roof caught her attention, and she saw Robin enter the roof. She sat perfectly still, but Robin spotted her - in fact, looked right at her, as if he'd known she was there all along. He raised his hands in a placating gesture, then put his finger to his lips as he approached.

Jinx kept a careful eye on him every step of the way, warning him with her glare not to come too close. He settled for sitting some distance away by the ledge, his back also to the wall. She might have been on his turf, but she still felt like she had the upper hand.

"So," Robin said. "We got the electricity working, finally. Is she losing control again?"

Jinx breathed out. Whatever he was after, he wasn’t going to fight her for it. Yet. "Nah. She had something on her mind, is all."

Robin nodded. "She talked to us. Actually she came to the kitchen for lunch like everything was perfectly normal a couple of days ago and has been stopping by ever since. She startled all of us.”

"Did she? She didn't tell me." Jinx smiled down at the peacefully resting Raven. "She's full of surprises."

"Yeah. Like how she trusts you. And how much trust you put in her. You're seriously letting her go anywhere she wants like that without even telling you where she's been?"

"I didn't even know she was taking me here earlier." She cast a sidelong glance at Robin. "I bet that doesn’t help your court case against me, huh?”

“Raven’s been arguing your case for you. She has made some very good points. Extending this level of trust to her helps it too.”

“Oh.” She looked down at the sleeping girl in her lap. “So I suppose my devious plan to slowly subvert the Titans to my side is working!” she said, teasing him.

Robin didn't take the bait. "She also said that maybe I could talk to you. Something's come up."

"Did she make you apologize to Starfire first?"

Robin blushed, but tried to cover it with a frown.

"Hah! She totally did. Good. Starfire did a really great thing for Raven, you know."

"Yeah. I do know. She really is pretty great." Robin looked away.

Jinx had a sudden thought. "Like how I keep thinking Raven is too good for me. That's what you're feeling, isn't it."

Robin didn't answer. It was as good as a yes.

"Hey, I won't tell. Starfire is great but she's a big orange handful. Or two." She waggled her eyebrows.

Robin was not amused. "I'm not here to discuss our feelings, Jinx."

Jinx grinned. "Fine. What's so important that you have to talk with me without putting cuffs on me first? Last I heard, you don’t compromise with hardened criminals."

He looked her in the eye. "Have you ever heard of something called Project Cadmus?"

Jinx's hand stopped stroking Raven's hair. "You have some pretty funny timing there, bird boy. I read those words for the first time yesterday."

"Did you."

"What's the issue with whatever it is?"

"I had to spend some time a few days ago convincing the Justice League that you weren't some kind of activated Cadmus terrorist cell out to disrupt metahumans in Jump City, for one."

Jinx wasn't having it. "Out with it, Robin. What is Cadmus? What connection did it have to the HIVE?"

"You know General Wade Eiling, right?"

"That anti-metahuman pile of pink slime extruded into a military uniform?"

Robin almost smiled.

"I'm familiar with him from TV, yes."

"He's one of the leaders of Project Cadmus that we know of. And his opinions on metas are pretty much what Cadmus is all about. They want to limit metahuman influence on America and the world at large. That includes trying to get metas to take down other metas, either by training them as mercenaries or assassins, or creating their own. And they have backing from the American government."

"Are you implying that I was part of that project? To take down metahumans?"

Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine. Fine. Maybe I actually was without knowing it and learned a bit about what my old school really was about yesterday and I'm not feeling too good about it. And maybe in retrospect I was more good at it than I'm really okay with. Happy now?"

"I didn't say anything."

Jinx glared right back at him.

Robin took this as his cue to talk more. "Your little announcement to the world made waves, and not just with the meta community. The mayor and police commissioner have been on the Titans' case to dig you out from wherever you're hiding. No one likes a criminal gang openly declaring they own a city and the authorities not being able to do anything about it. They especially don't like it when other criminals accept it. No one wants a situation like Gotham on their hands.”

Jinx shrugged, taking care not to disturb Raven. “Happens in plenty of places. What of it?”

"Since the Titans haven't been doing a great job of finding you and taking you down since the fight with Mumbo, the Mayor has been in contact with General Eiling."

Jinx looked down at Raven. "And what's the general going to do?"

"We don't know. And that's a problem. Cadmus isn't just one thing, Jinx. It's all over the place. It has cells and plans and projects all across the country, maybe even the world. Eiling could be using this as a chance to finally use some of his toys, or test them. Or maybe even use us as an object lesson."

"You keep saying 'us' like we're in this together."

"We are, even if we don't like it. whatever his plan is, Eiling isn't going to just take you out. He's probably going to use the chance to gun for us, too. Cadmus was made to try to find ways to destroy even the Justice League if it could, and using us as target practice for the big league is the opportunity he's been waiting for. And all of that makes your power play my problem."

"Don't you have the League on your side?"

"The Titans and the League don't get along that well, and the League doesn't want to make an open move against something that is, technically, still part of the American government. That might lead to something much worse for everyone. We’re on our own."

Jinx frowned. "Is you not getting along to do with whatever plan the League had to take down Raven?"

"Just partially. I don't get along with my mentor. The League don't fully trust Beast Boy since he was a member of the Doom Patrol and they're often rogue, they don't fully trust Cyborg because he has connections to S.T.A.R Labs which in turn ties to Cadmus, and Tamaran and its royal family is entirely off limits to the Green Lantern Corps for some reason that even Green Lantern himself doesn’t know."

Jinx felt her eyes practically bugging out of her head. That was some serious info to just get dumped on her. "And they don’t trust Raven because she is the offspring of Trigon," she finished for him.

"She told you that?" Robin seemed shocked.

"That's what the blackout was about."

"And... you're okay with that?"

"Yeah. I am." She glared at Robin again, daring him to challenge her on that.

"Good. I'd kick you off my roof if you weren't."

She grinned. She was enjoying this side of Robin. Then she frowned. "Why tell me all this, though? This is pretty sensitive information."

"Call it a show of trust," said Robin. "Because as much as I hate it working with a criminal, Raven has been vouching for you and we may have to make some kind of plan together, and-"

"Sweet. I'm in."

Robin quirked an eyebrow at her. "That was fast."

"You hate it. Good enough for me."

Raven's voice startled them both. "...You see what I have to put up with, Robin?"

Jinx stroked Raven's jaw, smiling. "Sorry, Sunshine. Did we wake you?"

"...I was just enjoying the attention," she murmured, pushing her head into Jinx's hand.

"Cool. Okay, Robin. How do you wanna do this?"

"We coordinate our movements and keep a look out for further developments for now. We don't have enough to act. And at the end, we'll argue for leniency for you and your team on the grounds that you've been helping us, which shouldn't be hard to sell given that half the city thinks that already. Overall, it's more likely they'll go for you first."

"And then I release this binding on Raven and..." she paused. "and after that, we'll see." Saying that the HIVE was over, that she was going to leave that scene forever, made it feel too real.

Robin just looked at her critically. Raven lifted her hand to Jinx's, still on her neck, and held it.

"Fine," said Jinx finally, just to break the silence. "How do we keep in touch?"

Robin took out a pair of Titan communicators. "I've disabled the locator beacons. Feel free to have Gizmo look them over if he feels paranoid about it, it makes no difference to me. If we find anything about what Cadmus is planning we tell the other, and I'll include you in any reports." He tossed one to Jinx, and the other towards Raven, who caught it with her power.

Jinx caught hers, feeling very strange about what she was holding in her hand. "And play the rest by ear, huh? That's just how I like it."

Robin nodded and got up to leave. "By the way," he added before walking away to the rooftop exit. "Killer Moth said to thank you for the present, but I don't think Kitten appreciated her new throng of admirer."

The reminder hurt Jinx less than she thought it would.

"Oh, and Starfire says you can come down for lunch anytime," he added.

"...Not today," said Raven. "We have plans."

"We do?" said Jinx.

"Yes. I'm taking you out on a date."

Jinx laughed. "Wow, there's a lot you're not telling me today, huh Sunshine?"

Robin glared at Jinx, clearly giving her a final silent warning to not mess with his friend's feelings, and closed the door.

  
  
  
  
  


Raven transported them to Jinx's room, distracting Jinx again with a kiss, and sat her down. Jinx found she didn't even want to resist.

“What brought this on?” asked Jinx.

Raven took some time before answering. “...You accepted me. All of me. But you don’t feel like you can do anything while I’m wearing this choker.”

Jinx looked Raven in the eye, seeing nothing but affection. No judgment or reprimand.

“...So if you can’t do anything, it’s going to be me. Let me guide you.”

Jinx still said nothing as Raven started picking out their outfits. She got help from Jinx on makeup, but otherwise took charge of what was happening. Jinx felt absolutely delighted at this odd turn of events and simply went along with Raven's wishes. They were casual and civilian again, and Raven even said she liked seeing Jinx in a skirt before asking her to wear one, which she did without hesitating.

Jinx was barely even processing it as Raven combined her magic with her own somehow - she wouldn't explain how - to tame Jinx's hair and tie it in twin tails which, on any other occasion, Jinx would have hated but which she now loved just because Raven liked them on her. Reminiscent enough of her regular style, but different enough to fly under the radar.

Jinx was completely under Raven's gentle but firm thumb right now and she loved every second of it. She gave in to the unfamiliar sensation of not being constantly in charge or on guard. Intimacy and affection was not a place of surrender among her usual crowd. She let herself forget about the rest of her life, even if just for a while; all she had eyes for was Raven, in this moment.

When they were finally ready, they made their way to a familiar spot; the same restaurant they'd dined at before, the day of Mad Mod's attack. Raven arranged for the table this time, making it very clear that what was happening was a romantic outing, and got them a nice private table, complete with candlelight even though it was just past noon. Jinx didn't even think about the menu; it was a constant stream of small plates and samples, brought by waitstaff she didn't even notice coming and going and ordered by Raven alone. Jinx nearly yelped as she felt Raven's foot on her leg a few dishes in, feeling her rising blush at the Titan's new boldness.

They didn't talk much about anything in particular; they sat close and shared little kisses, the taste of both of their long-lost homes fresh on their tongues, or else they held hands, played with their feet, or shared little compliments while feeding each other little tidbits, Jinx not even on this occasion sparing Raven her innuendos - and Raven not even once rebuffing them.

As dessert rolled around, Raven sat close to Jinx, and the pinkette noticed that she seemed to be gathering her courage for something. She waited patiently, encouraging Raven with her pink, slitted eyes, until the dam finally broke.

“...Jinx," she said. "I've grown very fond of you. I know your circumstances are hard, and I know how hard it would be for you to ask, so I will. I want you to have no doubts that this is what I want, too. I want you to know that this is how I feel."

Jinx held her breath.

"Kamala, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes," she whispered in answer, breathing again, and leaning in for their sweetest kiss yet. Every time she thought they'd climbed a peak, they found one that was higher.

Raven was, as Beast Boy had predicted, the perfect gentleman and picked up the bill, not even allowing Jinx to peek at it.

  
  
  
  
  


Their next stop surprised Jinx; it was in the forest close to the spot where they'd emerged from the disused subway.

"What are we doing here, sweetheart?"

"I wanted to... try something. Try taking off your shoes and stockings."

"Oh, so now that we've had that date, you want me to see if I keep my word?"

Raven smiled, recalling that conversation. "I can still turn around, if you-"

Raven's words ended right there. Jinx had started taking off her boots right in front of her, looking Raven in the eye. She slowly, deliberately, took off her stockings as well, savoring Raven's reaction, until she stood barefoot in the grass.

"Okay, Rae. Now what do you plan for me next?" said Jinx coyly, slowly dropping the stockings on the ground.

"...Wow," said Raven, catching her breath. "You were right about undressing in front of someone."

Jinx just smiled sweetly. Raven's face was beyond adorable.

"...Just," Raven continued, her eyes still lingering on Jinx's feet, "try... feeling the grass. Feeling your magic. Tell me what you're feeling."

Jinx understood. "Oh! You want to see if that file was right?" She felt a little put out. It seemed like a weird time for her girlfriend - her girlfriend! she was still reeling - to care about that odd detail. "Okay, I guess we're doing this now?"

"Indulge me," said Raven. "I... like studying you."

Jinx's mood flew right back to romantic. "Aw! Okay, watch as close as you can, Sunshine."

Jinx picked a target, a dead tree some distance away, and tried to conjure her hexes. Even as the first bolt flew, she felt a clear difference. Her steps seemed just a little bit more sure, her bolt a tiny bit better placed. It wasn't exactly an earth-shattering difference, but even the darkness of the forest's canopy seemed to conceal less from her the more hexes she threw.

"Jinx! Look at your feet!"

Without pausing, twirling and dancing without even noticing she'd started to, she glanced at her toes. Where they met the grass, a pink spark passed between them. She stood still for a moment, and the glow sustained itself.

She suddenly realized she'd seen this long before. She'd known this in her home village, where she'd gone barefoot more often than not as a kid, on the rare moments her power had pushed itself out before she'd learned to use it. She'd spent almost her entire life since coming to America in cities and complexes and structures of one type or another with various varieties of heavy or armored boots on and had simply forgotten. Now she was remembering again, almost like the ground itself was welcoming her back, wondering why she'd been away so long. It wasn't a transformation, or a major boost to her power, or even a source of energy or huge advantage; it was just a sense of increased oneness she'd lost and found again, a feeling of being where she was supposed to be.

She looked up at the tree stump she'd been firing at and stopped, breathing with exertion that almost seemed to drain into the ground. She closed her eyes, twirling and laughing. How could she ever have forgotten this?

She jumped and skipped towards Raven and took her hands, dancing and twirling and laughing with her. Raven was shocked and awkward at this turn of events, but Jinx made up for every misstep with her own movements to make them move as one until she finally drew Raven in a silent hug.

"Thanks for helping me remember this," said Jinx, smiling at Raven's baffled but not displeased expression.

"...Remember?" asked Raven. "Remember what?"

"That I belong," said Jinx, pushing Raven over into the grass and kissing her. Raven was still completely mystified, but Jinx quickly made sure she wasn't questioning it by drowning the questions in kisses and hugs.

  
  
  
  
  


Their outfits were a complete mess by the time they got back to the HIVE base, taking showers and changing back into their costumes so they wouldn't leave grass stains everywhere, not being quite so bold as to undress in front of each other again now that they'd had a taste. Jinx had tried explaining what she'd felt in the woods as best she could to a still baffled Raven, who had never felt such a thing at all. Their magic was different, after all. But it was the first time Jinx had truly felt like hers was part of the world, not a curse on it, and Raven was too caught up in the mood she was emoting at her to analyze it, simply being happy for her.

They'd decided to end it there for the moment, kissing each other as thanks as Raven went off to meditate and probably speak with some of the Titans, while Jinx was left at home to her own devices.

"...Pick out a movie for us tonight," Raven had said before she teleported away. The day clearly wasn't over for her.

Gizmo was still away, but Mammoth told Jinx he'd been back once and wasn't mad at them, so it seemed well enough. Jinx did feel guilty; she knew Gizmo wasn't likely to take her deal with the Titans well.

Of course, as the evening dragged to a very light dinner after that lunch she'd had, Gizmo was still nowhere to be seen. For the first time in a very long time, she felt worried about the pipsqueak. She took out her communicator.

Mo'Giz  
  
Yo where you at man  
  
check in once in a while would you  
  
Lookd in2 cat and mouse am in public be back l8r  
  


Cat and mouse? it took Jinx a few seconds and saying it out loud to figure it out. Cadmus. Gizmo had gone and looked into it without telling anyone or asking. And if he wasn't coming back, it was because he was trying to see if he was being tailed. 'In public' was their code for 'can't talk on this channel' and that particular spelling of 'later' meant he was intending to stay in a safehouse, but Gizmo hadn't used their phrase for being in trouble, so Jinx just got some snacks ready for movie night and shelved it for now.

It turned out her girlfriend (a thought which made her giddy to even say in her head) hadn't even seen some of the most popular movies of all time. Jinx seriously questioned what Cyborg and Beast Boy were thinking over in that tower. The rest of their night had turned into laser swords and spaceships in a galaxy far, far away until Raven had fallen asleep, reeling from a plot twist no one alive should have been capable to be unspoiled on. No one but her unique, fantastic, incredible girlfriend.

Jinx lay awake for a bit longer, stroking Raven's hair and looking at the choker on her neck. That damnable, horrible choker which still looked deceptively lovely on her. She very nearly undid the binding there and then, but didn't find the strength to do it. Why couldn't she just do it? The Titans were coming around to her. She had a path forward, rocky and odd though it was. Raven had taken the initiative from her hands and made it clear how she felt, leaving no doubt in Jinx's mind. The binding was only in her way, now.

It should have been the easiest thing in the world, and yet she couldn't do it. Why not? What was she still afraid of? Why didn't it just feel right?

The dilemma followed her into her dreams, making her sleep restless.


	16. Important People

Gizmo wasn't back by next morning, and this time Jinx allowed herself to feel a bit worried. She shot a message to Robin about it, who messaged her back that he'd look into it. It felt strange to turn to him, of all people, for help with one of her friends.

When she finally summoned the courage to tell Mammoth what was up with her and Raven and the Titans, he'd taken it shockingly well. "I haven't seen you this happy ever," he just said, and accepted it without question. Just like he always had. She wondered why she thought this would be any different.

Mammoth even wanted to maybe meet Starfire. He liked her. It was enough to almost make Jinx cry. She'd agonized over leaving the only life she’d ever known behind, over what her buddies would think, and here they were mostly either fine with it or planning it too, going with the flow of whatever came along.

What occupied the rest of her morning, while Raven was off in her daily meditation, was a little blue and white flyer that had slipped out of Raven's cloak. The one that had been left down in the HIVE tunnels for the students to find.

Jinx hated to say it, but what had happened to her in the Academy was part of why she was where she was. A big part of why she'd wanted out, why she'd looked up to the cool villains like Madame Rouge, who never let any man control her, always in command of herself. But it was also why she still felt trapped, unable to break free. Unable, even, to break Raven free from her. Would her life have been different if she hadn't convinced herself that seeking help was a trap designed to capture her, make her weaker in front of all the other students? The students who ended up distrusting each other so much anyway that they'd scattered to the four winds regardless?

Raven had told her to allow others to help her. It wasn't about getting help. It was about allowing it in. That had been the secret all along. Was there a world in which she could still do that? If there was, this flyer might not help; it was a mind control survivors' support group, not... her kind of survival.

Jinx didn’t have a lot of her old life left. Not her total confidence in her powers, not her partners in crime, not the knowledge of who she was and who her enemies were. Why not deal with the one part she hated most of all?

Raven materialized in front of her. She took in Jinx's mood and sat next to her to give Jinx a shoulder to lean on, which she accepted. It took a little while for Jinx to phrase what she wanted.

"Raven? Is... there someone else I could talk to? About my abuser? Do you know anyone?"

Raven hugged her. "...There is someone who I think understands. She knows the meta community and has a lot of experience helping women. She gives a lot of young heroes a way to contact her, me included.”

"Can you ask her...?"

"Of course. To be honest, I..."

Jinx hugged her back.

"...I should probably talk to her too," finished Raven, sighing. “I think that’s why she reached out to me.”

"Okay. When do you think she can have us? Do we have to make an appointment or something?"

"...Knowing her, she'll drop everything else to talk. She is one of the only people I know who stood up for me here on Earth, even before I met the other Titans."

Jinx searched Raven's eyes. "She must be pretty special."

"...You have no idea." Raven took out the Titan communicator and tapped in a long number from memory, then lifted it to her ear. "She has a phone, not a screen," she explained.

Jinx just held tight to her girlfriend. She was never going to get tired of calling Raven that in her head. Girlfriend girlfriend girlfriend.

Someone on the other end picked up. "Diana? This is Raven, of the Teen Titans. I... yes. There is someone who would like to talk with you about a sensitive issue. A girl called Jinx, who was... assaulted."

Jinx heard a voice from the comm but couldn't discern the words. It spoke at some length.

"Yes. She's meta, and so was her abuser."

Jinx tightened her grip.

"...You will? On the island? Diana, you know what I am, is that really-"

Jinx raised her head. This was someone who knew Raven's secret? And had stood up for her? Who in the world could this be?

"An hour then. And if it's possible, I'd like to talk with you too. Thank you. Raven out."

"Wow. You weren't kidding. Is this lady important?"

"...I think I just pulled her out of a meeting at the United Nations," said Raven.

Jinx stared. "Okay, how did someone at the UN know who you were before you even met the Titans?"

"...You'll see," said Raven.

  
  
  
  
  


Raven's transportation felt instantaneous to Jinx as usual though it obviously wasn’t, but even their new tradition of kissing to distract from the void of Raven's cloak hadn't calmed her nerves. They emerged on a pristine yellow beach. White columns rose from cliffs in the distance. Several guards were posted.

Jinx stared at them. The guards were women. More than that, they all wore what looked to Jinx’s inexpert eye like an ancient Greek style of armor, spears at the ready, shields high. Even as she watched, her feet touching on the shore, one of the guards ran out to them, an athletic woman with fierce eyes, her skin contrasting strongly with the brightness of the beach. "You are Raven and Jinx? You are expected."

"Raven, where are we?" asked Jinx.

The guard answered the question instead. "You have set foot on Themyscira, Paradise Island, home of the Amazons. Enter and be welcome. I am Apollonia, and I will guide you."

Jinx had no words, simply holding Raven's hand in hers and letting Apollonia in front guide her further inland. Raven floated just above the ground, not touching it, and Jinx wished she could too, because this land seemed almost too sacred for her ratty old boots to touch. She felt underdressed and overdressed at the same time, somehow.

The city they were brought to was magnificent. Clean and white, dotted with statues, and everywhere she looked there were tall, athletic women at work, in play, in training or in sport. Many took them in and smiled, welcoming them before continuing their tasks. It was like an all-woman version of Azarath, she thought, if Azarath had been mostly Greek instead. She felt terribly self-conscious, with her bright hair done up in its odd style, her dark clothes, her wiry, thin frame, but no one stopped them or told them to leave for being out of place. Instead, many of the women went out of their way to welcome them.

"Raven? Just who did you call to meet with us?"

"...I'll let her introduce herself. Don't be afraid. You're safer here than almost anywhere else on Earth."

Apollonia snorted. "Almost, she says! We shall have to increase our training drills to meet this one's standards!" She laughed uproariously, joined by several other guards who had overheard, but Raven was unperturbed, smiling softly.

Jinx knew what that meant. There was a reason she was holding on to Raven for safety here, not anyone else. She trusted her badass girlfriend over a thousand of these Amazons.

Apollonia brought them to what looked like a cross between a temple and a palace, and a figure stood there to meet them, wearing a white robe, a pair of bracers on her wrists and a diadem on her head. And Jinx recognized her. There was no way she could not have recognized her.

It was Wonder Woman.

"Hello, Jinx. Hello again, Raven. I am Diana of Themyscira, and I welcome you to my home. Raven, you do realize your feet are allowed to touch the ground here? I promise the island won't bite." Jinx almost snorted out loud. Diana's disarming and humorous smile was putting her at ease.

Raven shook her head. "...I don't feel comfortable letting myself...-"

"You do not defile my home, Raven. Never believe such a thing, just because of who may have sired you. You are welcome here, and safe."

Raven nodded and, ever so slowly allowed her feet to touch the ground. Nothing happened, but Raven still let out a small breath. She'd been feeling the same thing she had, Jinx realized.

"Now then," said Diana. "Jinx. May I invite you to my chambers? I believe we have something to discuss. Raven, you may amuse yourself in any way you wish and request any refreshment you like while I'm borrowing her."

Jinx felt a little panicked, but Raven nodded and gave her hand a squeeze. "You can tell her anything, Jinx. I'll be waiting."

Jinx hugged Raven fiercely, then smiled at her as she let go. "Okay. Wait for me."

Diana invited Jinx to come along. At first Jinx felt like she should be walking a few steps behind her. This was Wonder Woman! This was Paradise Island! Wasn't there some kind of protocol to follow? But as soon as she'd had those thoughts, Wonder Woman simply put her hand on Jinx's shoulder and guided her to walk right alongside her, as if they were equals. 

"Forget rank and title here, Jinx. We are just two women who are about to have a conversation."

"Princess-"

"Now what did I just say?" said Diana, her disarming smile returning.

Jinx blushed. "Diana," she said. "I feel a little out of place here. I'm... not exactly a model citizen."

"I know your record from Jump City, Jinx. But you're a young woman who needs help, and right now that is far more important to me." Diana entered a chamber. There were no closed doors anywhere, Jinx realized. Gates in case of invaders, yes, but no one was unwelcome anywhere in here. There was no separation except for mutual respect. 

"We may talk freely here," said Diana. "The guards will respect our privacy. Feel free to eat of the fruit and drink anything you like."

"Did my... Did Raven really call you out of a meeting at the United Nations?" asked Jinx, feeling terribly small and unimportant, staying rooted to the spot.

Diana just shook her head. "It's not a matter that can't wait, just concerns over trades and industries. The worries of a bunch of self-important old men making decisions that will not affect their own lives will never be more important to me than a young woman in need of aid. Don't put their concerns ahead of yourself, Jinx."

"That seems kind of... I dunno, selfish of me to ask?"

"Does it? Selflessness may be a heroic trait, but even heroes like you need to take care of themselves."

"I'm not a hero, though. I'm just a thief. I've even fought heroes before."

Diana smiled at her. "Not a hero, you say? You could have fooled me. Every woman who seeks help for what has been done to them has taken a braver step than it takes for me to face Darkseid himself, and yet your first thought is for what other tasks you have taken me from, imagining them more important than your needs. What is that other than a heroic ideal?"

Jinx was reminded of Raven's own words: the hardest battles weren't the ones where the lines were clear. It was the personal ones. She suddenly felt ashamed, and looked down at her feet.

Diana leaned in and took Jinx by the shoulders, guiding her to a seat before kneeling in front of her. Having the princess of Themyscira kneeling for her was shocking. What Diana said next shocked her even more.

"You are important, Jinx. You matter. Your pain is not a thing to be concealed and postponed until every other concern in the world is done, certainly not so that Man's world might find profit without ever sparing a thought for you. Here, and now, is for you. Let the United Nations wait as long as they must, and banish from your mind everyone who taught you that your pain does not matter while they used you for their own gain. You are not just a thief in a large and uncaring world. Here, and now, you are a woman, a hero and my sister."

To emphasize the point, Diana drew her in a hug, which Jinx couldn't help but reciprocate. She couldn't recall any time in her life where she was told she was important, or mattered, other than Raven's own confessions to her. To hear those things from Wonder Woman was affirming in ways she couldn't describe.

Raven had been right. Diana was something truly special.

Diana drew back and smiled. "Now, take all the time you need."

Jinx nodded, and told her everything about Brother Blood.

  
  
  
  
  


It was around noon when Jinx emerged from the palace with Diana, only to find Raven in an arm-wrestling contest with Apollonia. A stone table and seats had been brought out for them, and guards and citizens surrounded them both, shouting encouragement. It was so incongruous with what he knew of Raven, and of the Amazons, that she couldn't help but laugh.

"What the heck, Sunshine, I can't keep my eyes off you for a couple of hours without you getting into trouble now?" She wondered how in the world an Amazon had managed to talk Raven into this.

"...I'm just about done here," said Raven, gritting her teeth slightly.

"Oh, getting tired enough to give up then?" said Apollonia, grinning through her sweat. "It's only been a third of an hour."

"...Only tired of the chatter," said Raven. Ever so slowly, inch by inch, Raven's arm pushed on the Amazon's, until finally the back of Apollonia's hand impacted on the table. The guards and citizens cheered, as did Diana. If Apollonia's feelings were hurt, she didn't show it as she just clasped hands with Raven again and shook it, smiling. Jinx noticed that Raven shook her hand slightly under the cover of the cloak and grinned. She wasn't about to admit she'd had any trouble.

"That's my girl!" said Jinx, coming over and hugging Raven. "My big beefy ball of bicep muscle!"

"...You're in a good mood," said Raven. "You feel different."

"I feel different? How?"

"...The pain is smaller," she said quietly, aware of everyone around them.

Jinx smiled. "Did you really feel it that strongly?"

"...It's always been there, Jinx. From the beginning. It's part of us both."

Jinx huffed, realizing it was probably true. "Oh, wow, Raven. When I joked about you helping every hurt and sick animal you found, I very much wasn't including myself in with them." But she smiled anyway. Raven had always wanted to help her all along, but had never pushed her boundaries - well, aside from that one time, but she'd apologized. She'd waited until Jinx had been ready to accept it. It made Jinx feel warm.

"If we are quite done here," said Diana before a pair of guards could set up another match, "I would like to borrow Raven now. I know you said you wished to talk with me, Raven, but I have some advice to ask from you as well."

Raven and Jinx were surprised, looking at each other, but Jinx grinned and pushed Raven gently to Diana. "All yours, princess. Just give her back the roughly the way you found her."

"...Don't get into too much trouble," said Raven to Jinx. "Just, an acceptable and manageable amount."

"How dare you, Raven. I'm never acceptable."

The guards laughed and even Diana smiled.

Jinx watched Raven walk up the steps, just as awkwardly as she'd felt earlier, and took stock of herself. She felt stronger than she had in a week. More ready to take on the world. Oh yeah, good old confident Jinx was coming back, baby.

As she watched the guards resume their training in a nearby sandy arena, she thought she might start with an Amazon or two.

Apollonia, resuming her station of guarding the visitors, grinned at her. "You may join them if you wish, Jinx. And you clearly do."

"Sweet. I'll try not to break the arena."

"If you are anything like your friend, I'll be sure to warn them that this is no idle boast!"

Jinx smiled. "There's no one like her, but I try."

They proceeded to the arena. Two amazons were training with staves and bucklers. The floor was covered in yellow sand, to soften the impacts when they fell, but the Amazons were strong enough to send up plumes of it when they struck wide. All around them were others in various stages of undress, cleaning the sweat and grit of their own training, observing or waiting their turn. Jinx tried not to look too hard; she was a little committed right now, after all.

The two Amazons finished their bout, with one grappling the other down to submission, and Apollonia stepped forward. "Jinx, from the outside world, would like a match! Is any challenger here to take it?"

A large, blonde and burly woman, her calves and thighs like chiseled rocks, stepped forth. "Gorgophone will welcome Diana's guest! A small one must be speedy, and I need to work on my swiftness."

"Try not to crush her head between your thighs, gorgon slayer!" said Apollonia, to some amusement - Gorgophone's own included. "She may have the eyes of a gorgon, but she is still our guest!"

Jinx felt very much like she might actually enjoy having her head crushed by those thighs, but couldn't exactly articulate how or why. Instead she just shrugged, chalking it up to her being weird. "Alright, sounds good to me. I guess we can use anything we want from the wall?"

"Free use of weapons it is!" agreed Gorgophone, as if Jinx had just set down the rule. Jinx supposed she must have, given how the other Amazons cheered. "And by your eyes, I see you may have some power of your own. I shall allow their use!" The amazons cheered again.

"Cool. Give me a second." Jinx took off her boots and stockings a little out of sight of the others and set them to the side before walking into the arena. Apollonia took station next to them as if she were guarding precious treasures. Gorgophone had picked a huge stick, clearly intended to act as a two-handed spear, with a cloth ball on one end in place of a tip.

Jinx walked along, eyes lidded, not really watching the wall's assortment of training armaments. She didn't usually use weapons, although she had some training in several from the Academy. Suddenly, she had a moment of something feeling just right and reached out.

Her hand grasped what looked like a short wooden sword tied to a small buckler. She held the buckler in one hand and sword in the other. They felt right for her size, although she'd never used this kind of gear before. She nodded and walked back to the center of the arena.

"When the ball hits the sand, you may begin!" said an Amazon on the sidelines. She held what looked like a white shot put in her hand. She threw it in the air.

The second it struck the sand, both combatants moved. Gorgophone tried for a wide and low sweep of her spear. Jinx knew it was coming before she'd wound up the attack and jumped over it, twirling in the air. The second strike from the burly Amazon flowed straight from the sweep, instead coming at Jinx from above. Jinx deftly ducked, even pushing the spear slightly out of the way with the buckler in her hand. A huge plume of sand rose behind her, and she let loose a bit of her power from the buckler hand into it.

The sand flowed and shifted, some of it covering Gorgophone, who spat and backed off. Jinx both felt and saw the pink sparks at her feet coming to life, and rushed in as the heightened awareness she'd so recently discovered flowed into her, actively sensing now how pushing bad luck out had somehow made her fortune stronger. Her advance was stopped by Gorgophone's defensive posture catching the wooden sword and pushing Jinx so hard back that she flew through the air. She landed perfectly and did a little gymnastic pose.

Several of the Amazons gave polite applause.

"Aw, that was another ten out of ten," she muttered to herself. Gorgophone recovered from the sand and rushed at her again, and Jinx twirled with her sword in hand, letting her power loose through it and at the Amazon's feet. The sand shifted under her and she fell, but recovered with more agility than her mass implied, rolling into a stance that stopped Jinx from going on the attack while she was down.

"Not feeling sore from a little bad luck, Gorgophone?" asked Jinx.

"It is a poor warrior who blames defeat on bad luck, Jinx. Especially when it is her opponent to begin with." She grinned and came at Jinx again.

Jinx decided she liked her. Gorgophone thrust the spear several times, Jinx flowing around and under each one easily, diverting the tip with the buckler or the sword when needed, somehow seeing each one coming as clear as day from miles away. The Amazons cheered and clapped, calling both of their names in encouragement. Jinx reversed the attack, coming in too close for the bigger Amazon to leverage her weight and strength with her massive weapon, forcing her to use the haft to block several quick strikes.

Then Jinx went in for the final blow. Gorgophone tried to lock her weapon to the haft of the spear again and simply toss her back with it, but Jinx instead grabbed hold of it and let herself be lifted in the air, feeling how her luck was shifting in her favor. She twirled and came down with her knees around the Amazon's neck while shooting another hex into her, the impact forcing Gorgophone to the ground, disarmed. Before the big warrior could release the hold, Jinx quickly grappled her arm and put her legs around her neck, pinning her.

When Gorgophone tapped her hand on the sand and the Amazon's applause rose, Jinx felt powerful and strong. She helped the Amazon to her feet and smiled. "You're much faster than you look," taking away the sting of defeat.

"And you are exactly as crafty as you look," the Amazon replied, laughing. "Now, who's next?"

Jinx gulped a little as she saw Amazons line up to test themselves against the newcomer. It seemed like she'd signed up for a little more than she'd bargained for.

  
  
  
  
  


By the time Raven emerged from the palace, Jinx was bruised and sweaty, having at least won more matches than she lost, and relearned a tiny bit more about her powers. She washed herself by an amphora, as bare as any other woman there, and was happy to see Raven avert her eyes as she spotted her back. It felt good to have that kind of effect on her, even with what she considered an overly boyish and skinny body. Then again, after seeing the many shapes of Amazon there were, she was feeling less self-conscious.

"Did you have fun, Jinx?" asked Diana.

"Oh yeah," she said as she dressed, taking pity on her girlfriend. "I'm a bit tired to take you on, though, sorry." Practicing with the Amazons had been exactly what she'd needed. She felt more confident and strong than she had in a while, more confident in herself and her abilities. Just because she didn’t know everything there was to know about her powers didn’t mean she couldn’t rely on what she did know. It had been a good reminder of herself. She had the feeling, from looking at Diana's eyes, that this had been exactly what the princess had intended to happen. Jinx felt like she had torn herself down and was rebuilding herself stronger than before.

Diana laughed. "Some other time, then. Thank you for your advice, Raven. Your insight has been most helpful."

"...And thank you for the talk, Diana," said Raven. They both bowed, and Diana departed for the palace again.

"Will you require my escort to the beach?" asked Apollonia, having dutifully guarded Jinx's clothes from anyone so much as glancing at them.

"...We can leave from anywhere on the island, thank you."

"It's been fun! Thanks for everything, Apollonia!" said Jinx, taking hold of Raven and kissing her in full view of everyone. The Amazons cheered, and Raven was quick to blink away from the island from embarrassment. 

They reappeared in Jinx's room. Jinx grinned cheekily at Raven. "Sorry, I couldn't resist you. What did Diana ask you about?"

"...Being born from an evil man. She recently discovered that she is the offspring of Hades, the god of the Underworld, and wasn't sure how to react to this. As long as she acts according to what she believes, though, she has nothing to be worried about."

Jinx looked at Raven curiously. "I thought Diana was sculpted from clay by her mother."

"That's also true. She's basically a mythological being, Jinx. Both can be true at the same time, and the pantheon didn't exactly need to follow the normal rules at the best of times."

"She's also a fantastic person. Thank you for today, Raven." She leaned in and kissed her girlfriend again, then paused. "I mean, you're basically mythological too. You even have aspects like some kind of goddess. Half the time I expect to wake up to find you've become Kali the destroyer.”

"Takes one to know one, is what Diana said.”

"So if mythological beings don't have to follow the rules, and you are one, does that mean Starfire is actually going to spoil our many children rotten someday?"

Raven's eyes went wide. "...I'll do some research before we risk it."

"Aw, come on. What's life," Jinx said huskily, drawing Raven close, "without a little risk?"

"...We're sixteen," said Raven, her breath a little ragged. "I did learn something from my mother, you know."

"Okay, fair." But they didn't stop kissing for a while yet.

  
  
  
  
  


Raven was gently healing and massaging Jinx when Robin called. Jinx answered lying face down on her bed, not bothering to hide what was going on, and grinned on seeing Robin's blush.

"Hey, bird boy. Sorry, I'm a little sore from fighting a bunch of literal Amazons today, what can I do for you?"

"Is she serious, Raven?" asked Robin, averting his eyes, even though there really wasn't much of anything to see from the angle Jinx had picked. No wonder he was so slow with Starfire.

"...She beat a lot of them, too," said Raven.

"I'm sorry I even asked," said Robin. "There's a problem."

"What is it?" asked Jinx.

Robin held up a hand. In it was a battered HIVE communicator. "I found this at some kind of safehouse by the south piers. What I didn't find was Gizmo."


	17. Disaster

Jinx took in the scene at the safehouse. It wasn't one of the ones she was familiar with. Gizmo must have set it up himself at some point.

"You say he was looking into Cadmus, Jinx?" asked Robin, carefully looking over the scene again.

Everything had been turned over or inside out. Bedding was ripped, furniture turned, drawers pulled. The communicator had been behind a dresser, apparently deliberately hidden there.

"Yeah, he... I guess I should explain a few things. We found something bad deep in the old base with Cadmus written all over it."

"How bad?" asked Robin.

"A corpse of one of Billy's clones," said Raven, with no hesitation. "It shook us all when we found it."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "A safeguard, you think?"

"...Probably," said Raven.

"Right," said Jinx, feeling a little ghoulish just talking about it. "And Gizmo has been scarce since roughly about then. He and Billy weren't even close but Gizmo never lets on how much he cares about anything unless it's new tech or a videogame. The only thing I got out of him was that he was investigating Cadmus, didn't feel safe to talk over comms, and was holing up in a safehouse."

Robin nodded. "Which means he either found something, or got close enough to make someone spooked. But something doesn't add up. Look at this," Robin said, pointing at a bit of debris like any other. "And this," he said, pointing at a scrap of some material. "It seems like all of this was done after he'd left the house. There's no sign of a struggle."

Jinx looked at Raven, confused. Raven shrugged. "...Robin is a world-class forensics expert," said Raven. "Just roll with it."

"That doesn't seem right. Why would he leave the communicator?" asked Jinx.

"He might have been thinking he'd come back."

"Nope," said Jinx, shaking her head. "We never, ever willingly leave our communicators. Rule number one. We are always in comms contact if we possibly can. He should know it, he insisted on it."

"Then the only scenario that makes sense to me is that someone knocked on the door, Gizmo hid the communicator, he answered, went out with whoever was outside of his own free will, and then two individuals in standard issue army boots trashed the place looking for something or to make it look like there was a fight, which is as good an indicator of Cadmus as any. Can you think of why any of that would happen?"

"Not a clue," said Jinx. "Is there anything on the comms? Call log, message history?"

"Just the message he sent to you. I couldn't find anything else."

"Let me take a look," said Jinx. She scrolled into the messages, then looked at the drafts. There were quite a few, most of them written after the last message to Jinx. "Gizmo, you genius! He hid a message in the text drafts! We use codes because we have to piggyback off the cell network and might be intercepted. Cadmus could do that pretty easily. Look. 'Cat and mouse', that's Cadmus. He was on to them. Let me decipher this."

Drafts  
  
slam dunk  
  
cat and mouse race going down  
  
ducked out for a bit  
  
left a present in your fave hat  
  
planning a surprise party for l8r  
  
B-  
  


Robin and Raven leaned over, Raven floating carefully, as Jinx worked her way through the messages. "This can't be right. This must be an old draft. Why is it saved for yesterday night?"

"...What is it?" asked Raven.

"B minus. That's the blood type. It was our code for Brother Blood. Not easy to work naturally into a text but descriptive."

"What does it all say?" asked Robin.

"Roughly... he found something big, Cadmus was on his heels, he ditched them, stashed something somewhere, came to the safehouse to lay a trap, then he finished on... just... Brother Blood. That's the last one."

"Stashed something where?"

"Good question, bird boy. Can you tell me what place 'your fave hat' is? That's not any code I recognize."

"...If it's meant for Jinx, that would be Mumbo's hat," said Raven.

Robin and Jinx looked at her.

"...What? Girl loves that hat. I can’t talk her out of it no matter how hard I try."

"Please, as if it’d be hard for you to talk me out of my clothes. You already got me out of my stockings twice.”

“...It's harder when it comes to that hat.”

“So just let me leave it on!”

Robin cut them off, very much trying to not be affected by the banter. “We need to follow up on this quickly, you know.”

“Better take us all home, Rae," said Jinx.

"...Even Robin?"

"Hey, as long as he doesn't know how to get in, I don't care if he knows the layout."

"...You better give me some time to rest afterwards. I'm not a taxi service and Themyscira was hard to get to." Jinx had to remind herself to give Raven a massage of her own later.

"What were you doing on Themyscira?" asked Robin.

"How else would I fight a bunch of Amazons?" said Jinx.

"...Riiight," he said. "Let's just get going."

Raven enveloped them and seemingly moments later deposited them inside the trophy room. Jinx immediately punched in the code on Mumbo's case and retrieved the hat.

"Okay, let's see..." she put her hand in, but of course it was much bigger on the inside. "Darn it Gizmo, did you really have to pick the magic hat to put this in?"

As she reached in all the way to her shoulder without finding anything, Robin took one look, removed something from the hat's band, and grinned. "There's what we're after," he said, showing them a little data disc.

"Oh." Jinx removed her hand from the hat, somehow retrieving from it... the little bunny plushie of Raven? Surely that had been on her pillow, where she always left it now.

Robin grinned. "Oh, so that's where that thing went. Starfire was worried when it disappeared."

Raven glared at Robin. "Explain."

"Beast Boy showed Starfire a place you can order customized plush animals online after she talked about feeling lonely without you and she just went to town. They work really fast. That one's her favorite so far."

"...I don't know whether to destroy her or Beast Boy first," Raven said, as sullen as the bunny representation of her.

"Well, whatever," said Jinx, reluctantly putting Mumbo's hat back in its trophy case and stuffing the bunny Raven in a pocket, the little head sticking out of it at an angle. "Let's check the contents of that disc. We can use Gizmo's workshop."

They walked up the base, Robin clearly taking in every minute detail. The Titans were many things, but aside from Raven they were turning out to be rude house guests. They passed Mammoth in the living room, playing some kind of videogame on his latest oversized special controller - a controller that wasn't likely to survive his touch regardless.

"Sup, Mammoth," said Jinx. "Gizmo's missing. Gotta go look for him."

"Holler if you need me," grumbled mammoth, leaning over as he controlled a car on the screen. "Is he in trouble?"

"Probably."

Mammoth paused and looked over at her. "Ah. Be careful too, then." He turned around and started his videogame again, then paused it and slowly looked back at her and her two guests.

"Uhh, Boss? Robin is behind you."

Jinx grinned. "I know, Mam, it's fine."

Mammoth frowned. "Is Gizmo in that much trouble?"

"To be honest... probably worse. Robin is helping to find him. We need to use Gizmo's computers."

Mammoth nodded, slowly, then looked at Robin. "Gizmo's password is hiverulestitansdrool, all one word, lowercase." Mammoth pointed at Robin. "Don't you do something to make our girls regret having you in."

Robin just raised an eyebrow, and Mammoth turned around and unpaused his game.

Jinx reached over and touched Mammoth's shoulder, and something strange happened. The pink glow began around her hand, and some of its energy passed into Mammoth before it disappeared again. "We'll be fine, kiddo," she said, before leading the two Titans to Gizmo's room.

"...What was that energy all about?" asked Raven.

"I have no idea," said Jinx. "I guess I've been thinking a lot about giving him a break and passing some of my built-up luck on, and something just reacted in me. Fighting the Amazons must have charged me up enough." She thought she might be able to do it again, now that she knew what it felt like.

"...We really need to figure out some kind of control for you," said Raven, not unfondly.

It still ended up taking a while for Robin to get into Gizmo's system, as it was a kludged-up customized mess cobbled together by Gizmo himself, a collection of a dozen or so monitors forming an intimidating kind of control center. Ultimately, though, he managed to get the disc in and read what was on it.

Every monitor displayed something different from the disc. There were technical schematics, medical information, heavily censored plans and reports and even the details of what looked like magical rituals. There were a few standouts immediately.

"Codename: Medusa", said Robin. "Approved by General Eiling on the mayor's request for aid, to be activated in Jump City. It incorporates ideas from a half-dozen older plans and seems to have been written sometime in the last two weeks. The target is just listed as the city itself."

The last two weeks. Jinx had a feeling she knew exactly when this plan had been first conceived.

"Targeting the city probably means us and you both," said Jinx. "Hey Raven, why does that ritual there look so familiar?"

"...It looks like what the monks of Azarath did to my mind," said Raven. "Except this is much more invasive and disruptive. I'm more concerned about that DNA profile. It lists the exact same unique markers as Billy's did from the HIVE's files."

"You can just remember that off the top of your head?" said Jinx, surprised.

"Yeah, but I don't see how Cadmus is going to use Billy. He left the city, didn't he?" asked Raven.

"He did?" said Robin. "When?"

Jinx frowned. "When we figured out what was in our basement. We were trying to help Gizmo, but now it looks like Billy is also in trouble."

"...These technical specs," said Raven, looking over the rest. "I know some of these. They're part of Cyborg's designs. Whatever this plan it, it involves a lot of the powers and abilities of Jump City's heroes and villains."

"Is there anything about Brother Blood in this?" asked Jinx suddenly. "What if something of his is involved too?"

Robin searched, and found a video of red-robed cultists - the old HIVE academy assistants from when Sebastian Blood had taken over - practicing the ritual.

"...The Cult of Blood is performing a magic ritual for the American government," deadpanned Raven. "That brings a whole new meaning to corruption in politics."

"How do they even know the ritual?" asked Robin.

Raven looked uncomfortable. "The Cult of Blood harvests energy that the Monks of Azarath used to cast out from their dimension, and that energy might have information hidden in it if you had the tools and power to scry it. It's what makes the most sense."

Jinx was reminded that there were parts of Raven's history only she knew and smiled at her supportively. "Well, what does it all add up to? Billy Numerous, the ritual that made Raven's Nevermore, Cyborg's technical specs and the Cult of Blood?"

"The details are heavily censored and encrypted," said Robin. "We should get Cyborg on it as soon as possible. I'll get him to drive us in the T-car."

"One last jaunt for now, Raven? Just to get us outside?" asked Jinx, taking her hand.

"...Fine. But you owe me some chili ice cream later."

"And a back massage," said Jinx, kissing her cheek.

They didn't have to wait too long for Cyborg to screech his baby to a halt near where they were waiting. Jinx immediately called shotgun and went to the front, unheeding of whether the Titans had any previous system, and Raven and Robin got in the back.

Which of course put Jinx sitting next to Cyborg. Her ex-boyfriend. The one she still had complicated feelings about. Maybe giving some of her luck to Mammoth hadn't been the greatest idea after all.

"Uh," Cyborg said. "Hi there, Jinx." He started the car, awkwardly looking anywhere but at her.

"Heya, tin man," said Jinx. "So... this could get weird, huh?"

Jinx actually felt the energy emanating from Raven in the back seat without having to look.

"Look," said Cyborg, "I'm sorry for back then, but-"

"You couldn't really stay, I know. I almost didn't myself after Blood." Jinx touched Cyborg's arm. "I understand a lot more, okay? We're cool. Unless you're trying to steal me from Raven, that is."

Cyborg glanced at the rearview mirror and gulped at whatever he saw there. "No, ma'am, I will not. I kind of have a girlfriend again, actually," he said, embarrassed.

"Oh? Anyone I know?" asked Jinx.

"Bumblebee."

"What? Seriously? Another HIVE girl? Cy, do you just have a thing for bad girls?"

"More like bad-ASS girls. She was undercover too all along, can you believe it?"

Jinx gasped. "Seriously? Was everyone I vaguely liked there a double agent? What does that even say about me?"

Cyborg laughed, and the tension between them flowed away. "Oh, man, I hope not! Can you imagine Gizmo working for the government or something? That would just be weird!"

Jinx laughed with him. "And I don't even like that guy that much. So what's Bee up to anyway?"

"She's in our new program. Titans East, to our rebranded Titans West. We've kind of been expanding the whole Titan thing lately. There's a lot of teenage heroes out there, or just a lot of teenage metas in general, who can use a place to be where they can just feel normal, you know? But there's also a lot of places lately that just try to use and exploit them like the HIVE did. So we thought, why not give them a place to be that's a little safer?"

Jinx smiled at him. "Like what you almost found in the HIVE? That's kind of cool of you, Cyborg." She knew Raven felt her surge of fondness for Cy and grinned as she sensed Raven's eyes on her, the interior of the car getting darker by the second. "Relax, Raven, turns out both of us up front are taken. I would never smooch Cyborg without your permission. You'd get to watch." She winked saucily at Cyborg, who blushed at the idea.

"Can you relax her a little more?" asked Robin, sitting next to Raven. "This is very distracting."

Looked like Raven was the possessive type. Jinx was going to have a lot of fun with that. She reached a hand back without looking. "Take my hand, Sunshine. It's only for you."

She felt Raven's hand almost snatch hers, but the tension lifted. Raven entwined her fingers around Jinx's and then leaned forward behind the pinkette, whispering in her ear.

"You are going to make that up to me too," promised Raven, and Jinx shivered in delight. Oh yeah. The make-up sessions were why she wanted to have fun with this in the first place.

  
  
  
  


 

"Raven! Friend Jinx! Welcome back!"

Starfire crushed Raven and Jinx with each arm in what Jinx knew was supposed to be a hug but which felt more like an overly personal hydraulic press.

"...Hello, Starfire. I missed you too," said Raven, her tone flat and strained.

Starfire backed up, holding their hands in hers. "The Tower is not the same without you, Raven! I hope we can move you both here as soon as possible!"

"Both?" asked Jinx, recovering. "That's a bit fast!"

"How else would you be near her, Jinx?" asked Starfire, grinning.

That was entirely too good of a point for Jinx to make a decent rebuttal. Instead she fished out the bunny Raven from her pocket and presented it. "This is yours, I believe?"

"Oh, you had her?" Starfire smiled widely. "In that case, Jinx, you may keep her. I would not wish to steal your girl from you."

Where Jinx was incapable of looking innocent if she tried, Starfire was nothing but innocence.

"...Is it always going to be like this with you two?" Raven asked, rhetorically.

"Yes," said Jinx and Starfire both, before giggling at each other.

"...Joy."

Cyborg came back to the living room, Robin and Beast Boy in tow. Beast Boy looked oddly at Jinx, but accepted her quickly. Starfire flew off to join Robin in the kitchen.

"I set the computer to crack the encryption, but all we can do now is wait," said Cyborg. "Hey BB, wanna fire up the new game?"

"Do I!" said Beast Boy. Jinx blinked, and somehow the boys had moved as fast as lightning to the couch in that time. They were clutching familiar-looking rhythm game controllers.

Jinx smiled at Raven. "Say, Sunshine-"

"Later," said Raven, smiling slightly. "Let's let them have some fun with it first."

"Before you crush their dreams, you mean?" said Jinx.

"...I still need to teach you a few things too," she said, smiling just a little wider. "I liked having you under my spell for a change." The idea made Jinx shiver again.

Jinx and Raven deposited themselves on the far end of the couch, Jinx slightly in Raven's lap, as they watched the boys play. Robin was making sandwiches with what looked like dubious help from Starfire. The boys were trash-talking and enjoying themselves, and Raven and her were keeping each other company with little comments to each other. She sat still where she was even when Raven slipped into meditation, knowing her girlfriend had to shut even her out, but enjoying her warmth and closeness anyway. She didn't stick out. No one was watching her. She had just slipped right in with all these people she already knew by now.

It felt... normal, almost. Jinx thought she might get used to something like this. She hadn't really thought about what she'd do after this crisis, but Starfire outright inviting her to join the Titans - because that's what living here would mean - had set wheels in motion in her head.

Well, why not? A week and change ago it would have been ridiculous. She could never have used her power for good, or found people willing to give her a chance or stick their neck out for her. Now even Robin was giving her a little mutual respect and risking himself to help her despite her history - she knew perfectly well that Robin had a very definite thing about not forgiving criminals easily. The Academy had just wanted to chew her up and spit her out. The streets were less romantic and cool than most kids imagined. And the Titans were opening up their ranks for more teens anyway.

She glanced at Robin trying to use a fresh bottle of mustard without Starfire stealing it from him. He'd insist on some kind of price. Maybe that was okay. Maybe she really did need to break with who she had been, if she was reinventing herself, letting go of a lot of her life, dealing with some of the old pains. Maybe it was right. So long as she could be with Raven, destroying everything she’d ever been might all turn out right.

She dozed off a little, thinking of Raven.

  
  
  
  


 

The loud blare of alarms woke Jinx up.

"What's going on?" asked Beast Boy. Raven came out of her meditation. Robin paused where he was, making final touches on the sandwiches. Cyborg lost track of this song. Starfire slurped at her bottle of stolen mustard.

The tower shook slightly, as if hit by an explosion.

"Raven! Beast Boy! To the roof!" said Starfire, charging up her starbolts. The two other Titans took off, Raven reassuring Jinx with a quick glance. Jinx nodded back as she flew off.

Cyborg opened a panel on his arm. "Some kind of stealth aircraft! Good thing we just beefed up our air defenses and detection! The new point defense battery just swatted down a missile!"

"Lucky timing, huh?" said Jinx. "Looks like they figured the same thing I did, just a few days late."

"We'll have time for that story later," said Robin, looking up from his communicator. "Cyborg, Jinx, you're with me. Someone is trying to breach the tunnel."

Jinx fell into line without even thinking, then was surprised at herself. Well, hey, it was meant to be a mutual pact, right? When Robin ran into an elevator though, she stopped.

"H-hey, wait, you're not supposed to use one of these in an emergency right?"

Cyborg, coming up behind her, simply herded her in. "It's reinforced harder than even the outer shell. Relax."

"Cy, you know about me and elevators!" she said indignantly as the door closed.

Cyborg paused, his eye slowly growing wider. "Oh. Whoops. Uh, Robin, maybe we should-"

The tower shook again, and the elevator groaned.

"Jinx," asked Robin. "What was that about you and elevators?"

"Almost never ridden one without it failing," she summarized. "Barely escaped last time. Bad luck, remember?”

The elevator groaned again. One of Cyborg's panels popped open and Beast Boy's voice came through. "Cyborg! We think some kind of pod hit the top of the Tower and is burrowing itself inside!"

Jinx took a step closer to Cyborg. "Like maybe in the elevator shaft?" she guessed.

Cyborg took a look on his panel, now showing a live updated map of the Tower with red spots on it. "Yeah, pretty much dead on! It’s raining debris on top of us!"

Robin needed no further encouragement. He jumped to the top of the elevator, vaulting himself on tiny handholds, and kicked the emergency top hatch open, the force of the kick enough to propel him on top. "Come on! We have to get out!"

Jinx quickly jumped out after him, accepting his hand to leverage herself up, and together along with Cyborg's jump jets they dragged the big teen out. The elevator groaned again under them. 

"Damn, all the emergency brakes are gone! This thing's going down!" Cyborg looked around for escape as the groans got louder.

"Jinx, hang on to me!" Robin fired a grappling hook up into the darkness. Just as the elevator fell, Jinx jumped onto his back, holding on for dear life. The now-useless metal shell fell with a terrible screeching sound and impacted far below. Jinx looked around and was relieved to see Cyborg had magnetized his boots to the wall.

"Well the good news is, that seems to have taken out an intruder who got through the tunnel and was waiting below," said Cyborg. "Bad news is, something is still coming down on top of us."

"I see it! Look!" Robin said, pointing. Jinx looked up. A bullet-shaped pod of some kind was making its way down the shaft, held up by spindly robotic legs. On its sides were human-shaped figures - but one of them was missing an arm from the fight above, revealing they were robotic. Reminiscent of Slade's army, in fact, she thought.

"I can fix this," said Jinx, taking aim with a finger while her other arm still held on to Robin.  Before the other two teens could stop her, she let loose a hex into one of the leg joints. The leg seized up and retracted, and two of the others seized up with it. The pod started to fall, rolling wildly as it hit the sides of the shaft. 

It was falling right on top of them.

"Whoops," Jinx said, but Cyborg was on the case. He punched open an elevator door.

“Jinx, my belt!” Robin shouted.

Jinx, holding on to Robin, quickly retrieved one of Robin’s spare grappling hooks from his belt and fired it out into the corridor, pulling her and Robin into it as the pod tumbled down behind them.

Cyborg took a quick look down. "Booyah! they're not getting up from that!"

"Sorry about the mess," Jinx said. "Good thing Robin and I think quick."

Robin grinned and got up. "I get the feeling that's going to be the case a lot around you." He held out a hand to her.

She looked at him, then took it, grinning back. "Maybe you'll get used to it," she said, lifting herself up. Privately she couldn’t wait to tell Raven that Robin had let her touch his toolbelt.

The tower shook again, and Raven's voice emerged from Cyborg's wrist. "They're sending in a second wave and they've started using weapons I've never seen before to disrupt us. Starfire and I can't hold them all off and Beast Boy is tied up fighting robots on the roof. Robin, we may have to abandon the Tower for now."

"Agreed," said Robin, his face grim. "We've lost the tunnel exit already. We'll have to leave some other way."

Raven sighed. "...Fiiiiine." She cut the line.

"The HIVE base should be secure for us," said Jinx. "Even though they know where the main facility is, we're using a new exit we made ourselves, and the old base is still trapped and dangerous. Especially with Slade's robot army living down there."

"Slade's army is where?" said Robin, dumbfounded.

"I'll tell you that story later," she said. "Grab anything you think you'll need and let's go!"

In the end, what they had wasn't much. Cyborg got Gizmo's disc and its incomplete decryption. Beast Boy was ready as he was, giving Jinx the distinct sense that he'd done something or trained for something like this before. Robin grabbed an extra tool belt. And Raven... did something to her room, which no one really wanted to know, but which she promised would mean no repeat intrusion of her space. Starfire joined them last with what looked to Jinx like a giant maggot - she unhelpfully claimed it was her 'pet Silkie' - and a bag full of custom plush monstrosities. Then Raven enveloped them all, and they were gone.

  
  
  
  
  


Robin turned up the volume on the HIVE living room TV, with everyone remaining on both teams clustering around it. Today was serious enough to break their self-imposed rules. The news was already on overdrive.

"-the destructive scene at Titan Tower, the target of an operation by unnamed government authorities in response to the rising criminal threat in Jump City apparently on approval from the mayor's office. The commissioner could not be reached for comment."

"That means the commissioner wasn't part of the plan and doesn't like it," Robin said. "He gets jumpy about jurisdiction."

The news cycled through footage and pictures. Jinx was startled; almost all of them featured her, either with Raven or from earlier that day with her and Robin chatting in the safehouse through the windows. There was even an extreme long-range aerial shot of Jinx and Robin on top of the Tower. They hadn't even once realized anyone had been watching. She silently thanked whatever gods were listening for no one having found out about her and Raven's date.

"The information provided to the media by the military suggests that Jinx, of the HIVE Five, has been subverting the Titans or working covertly with them for an unknown amount of time. The HIVE recently and infamously claimed open ownership of Jump City, putting trophies of defeated villains on display as a warning to others to respect their authority. Our sources can confirm that the Titans had been under pressure from the authorities to catch the HIVE gang leader to no success since then, and the ongoing theory for now is that Jinx and the Titans have been working together for at least that entire period."

"Ugh," said Jinx. "They're using me to take you guys down."

"No one here blames you, Friend Jinx," said Starfire. And no one contradicted her. Jinx felt incredibly relieved.

Mammoth grunted. "Some villains are buying it too, going by what I heard. Rumor mill says even some of the Gotham regulars paid respects."

Two weeks earlier she'd wanted to take the Titans down, get the credit for it and live high off the reputation. Now that she had all those things, she hated it. Exactly what she'd wanted, in the exact way she hadn't wanted it.

General Eiling entered the frame, and Jinx frowned. Seemed like her life was getting worse every time he popped around. "General Eiling," said a reporter. "What are your thoughts on the recent assault on Titan Tower?"

"I think that a full investigation can only be good for the so-called heroes and the public both! Who knows what secrets they're hiding? Who knows what manner of technology or weaponry they're keeping hidden in there? An entire room of dangerous items and weapons identified as belonging to known criminals has already been confiscated by the military!"

"Oh, sure," said Robin. "Blame us on keeping dangerous items locked in the trophy room behind several vault doors, as if the authorities didn't know about it. They're probably just stealing them for use by Cadmus." Jinx smirked. If only her trophies were that well protected.

Eiling continued, now facing the camera directly. "And as for the criminal mastermind Jinx, I have only this to say; Your time is up, little miss pink menace! You can do your hair up like a lotus all you want while thumbing your nose at the authorities, but you can't hide forever! We're coming for you, flower girl!"

The TV exploded, spewing its guts across the back wall. It took Jinx a second to realize that she had been the one to destroy it; it took a tiny bit more time for the others present to realize it. She had gotten up, but her body felt stiff as a board. Everyone else backed away from her.

"WHOAH! What the heck, Jinx?" asked Cyborg.

"Eiling. Eiling called me flower girl. How does he know that? HOW DOES HE KNOW?" Jinx didn't even register that she was shouting through the roar in her ears.

"Know what?" asked Robin. Jinx nearly turned around and hexed him, but felt Raven's touch on her arm, then Raven embracing her. Her angry power dissipated.

"Only one man has ever called me that," said Jinx. "Only one man ever dared."

The room was silent as she calmed down, shaking visibly in Raven's arms. Finally, she spoke again.

"That man was Sebastian Blood."


	18. Be Happy

Jinx emerged, recovered, from her room with Raven on her arm at dinnertime, finding that the Titans had made themselves at home and cooked something up and even replaced the TV. She smiled a little and joined them, noting how gloomy they all seemed over the events of the day. Then an alert on her communicator rang.

"Oh! Today's when our regular Ice Cream Day is supposed to happen. I completely forgot."

"What is this day you speak of, Jinx?" asked Starfire.

"It's kind of a monthly tradition we have here in the HIVE. We just eat a whole bunch of ice cream. And that's Ice Cream Day."

"You simply dedicate an entire day to the iced cream?" said Starfire, practically with her namesake stars in her eyes. "How wonderful! May I move in with you instead?"

Jinx smiled, feeling better already. "Tell you what, everyone. Ice Cream Day is on. Mam, did you remember to restock the freezer?"

"With a lot extra chili cream for Raven," he nodded. Raven looked up from Jinx's side, enthused, and Jinx almost laughed at how animated her girlfriend was over ice cream. Jinx knew the keys to her heart, and the lock was in her stomach.

Beast Boy vaulted over from the couch away the spare TV they'd dug out of storage. "Dude, they make chili ice cream? I have to try-"

"-Mine," said Raven with some finality. "Unless you want to see how quickly you'll cry from the heat?"

"You're on," said BB, staring her directly in the eye.

And so, before they could talk tactics, before Jinx could confer with Robin, before Cyborg could finish his analysis of Gizmo's disc or Beast Boy beat the longest song in his new game or Starfire could arrange her new plush collection, they had Ice Cream Day. Jinx watched everyone's style. Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven had a mini-competition, which Raven won when she doused hers with the hottest spices from Jinx's shelf and didn't break a sweat. Robin had a single scoop of vanilla from a box no one had touched in months and got annoyed when exactly one of Jinx's mountain of sprinkles made its way to it, carefully pushing it away with his spoon. Starfire had every flavor at the same time, and topped the whole thing with heated mustard, then had a second helping.

Jinx was captivated by Raven. To anyone who didn’t know her she’d have seemed no different than usual, but to Jinx she seemed so normal, so happy, just playing with the two boys she knew, even though she still maintained her customary distance and demeanour. She'd gotten along, or tolerated, the HIVE guys, even joked with them, but this was her and her friends. The friends she'd taken her away from. Jinx felt happier knowing that situation was clearly coming to an end.

Although she still could not bring herself to remove the binding.

The Titans, down from the loss of their home, clearly felt much better about everything. Even Mammoth seemed amazed when he tried mustard on his ice cream at Starfire's insistence and found he liked it, accepting the new facts without question. Ice Cream Day won everyone's hearts as it always did.

"We shall have to institute this tradition when we take the Tower back!" said Starfire, and the other Titans agreed with spoons held high.

  
  
  


 

"This is Blood's style," said Robin some time later, having taken over part of Gizmo's workshop as his own analysis room. Cyborg sat by Gizmo's computer, fuming constantly about how strange the pipsqueak's setup was. "He doesn't keep his plans hidden. If this is him, he absolutely wanted you, and us, to know."

Jinx sat with him. She'd pampered Raven for about an hour first, of course. "So either he's working with Cadmus, or more likely has taken control of Eiling and is using his authority to do what he's planning. The only question is, what is it? What is Codename Medusa?"

Jinx felt a little proud of herself. After her initial outburst, talking about Blood was shockingly painless. It really was as if something had changed in her, as Raven had said; this time, she was ready to confront him head on. She wasn't afraid.

"Whatever it is," Robin said, "we can't rely on help from the League. They're dealing with some emergency in Alaska, and there's still no good way for them to move against Cadmus without antagonizing the authorities. For now we're on our own."

An emergency. Robin still hadn't called her that, she remembered. "And I don't have any backup up my sleeve," said Jinx. "Villains don't tend to operate like that. Especially with what I've done lately."

Robin looked over what he had, deep in thought. Jinx looked it over, frowning.

"You know," she ventured, "what motivates him is usually personal power. He got his powers from Trigon but ignored his mission to spy on Raven to focus on Cyborg instead when his mental control didn't work on him. That then led to Blood modifying his own body just to give himself some of the power he saw in Cy." She pointed to the schematics they'd found.

"You think this might be some scheme for him to get more powerful?" asked Robin.

"I'm not sure how, exactly, but yeah. How Billy and Raven's mind enter into it is anyone's guess."

Robin nodded. "It would make sense since he's using his own cult to perform the ritual, too. There's been no indication until now that the Cult of Blood had any ties with Cadmus."

A noise from the computers made Cyborg take notice of something. "Oh, dang. Robin? Jinx? You might want to take a look at this."

Robin and Jinx walked over to the mass of monitors, which switched to imagery - satellite, camera, even infrared - of what was happening in Alaska. At first it was hard to see what was going on. Then…

"Is the Justice League... fighting itself?" said Robin.

"I think we just figured out where Blood is," said Jinx. "Look at their eyes."

Wonder Woman and Green Lantern seemed fine in one camera view, fighting back to back, but Flash and Superman had them cornered, their eyes glowing a sinister red. Even as they watched, the Martian Manhunter joined the still-uncontrolled pair as they made their rapid escape.

"Damn," said Robin. "Any word on how many of the League are being controlled right now?"

"Not too many," said Cyborg. "Superman and Flash seem to be the only ones. Hawkwoman pulled back early and kept the rest of the League from joining the fight once she realized what was happening, and Batman is on standby with emergency countermeasures against Flash and Superman.”

"Oh, sure, just the fastest League member and the most powerful, no big," said Jinx, shrugging. "We can totally handle Blood bringing them over to us as his footsoldiers, right?" The sarcasm dripped off her tongue.

"Then we don't have a lot of time," said Cyborg. "He could be here tonight, tomorrow, who knows."

"Then we'll just have to be ready," said Robin grimly. "Send the League everything we have on Blood, Cyborg. Let's at least try to get them to watch his movements for us. And make sure to tell them we're expecting him to come here. Maybe this will finally get them to act."

"How likely do you think that is?" said Jinx.

Robin didn't answer, which made it seem not likely at all.

  
  
  
  


 

Everyone had gone to sleep except for Robin, but Raven insisted that was normal. No one really knew when Robin slept. They'd fixed up bedding, even ventured outside to get some more, taken over the vacant rooms and nodded off for the night.

Something made Jinx wake up in the night. She untangled herself from Raven and wandered into the base, wondering why something felt wrong. Mammoth wasn't on the couch. She frowned, checking his room. He wasn't there either, Starfire having graciously been given his room for the night, her bed practically drowning in plushies while her pet maggot snored in a pile of laundry. Then she entered the kitchen and saw the pink paper that had been left there underneath what looked to be Mammoth's HIVE communicator.

Her heart sank. There was only one reason for Mammoth to leave his comm behind.

The script on the paper wasn't very neat. Mammoth had never been one to master the finesse required to hold and use a pen, only barely managing it at the best of times. He'd apparently used one of her own sheets of paper and pens, going by the colors.

 

Jinx

  


Got a lead on Selinda. Total lucky break. Have to take it now or not at all. Can't take anyone with. Will hitch a train ride overnight to Frisco.

  


Sorry that I'm leaving like this but you're not alone. I like Starfire and Raven. Could take or leave the rest. But I think you can feel happy anyway.

  


I can't come with you where you're going but I'm not gonna be sad either. Don't be sad about me. Maybe we can get back in touch when I've found my sister. I think you'd both like that. I'll know where to find you.

  


I want to help with Blood but I might just get in the way. I can never resist him. Maybe not being a risk is the best help I can give. Whatever happens, be happy. 

  


Baran 

 

A lucky break. Jinx looked at her hands. She'd wanted to give Mammoth a lucky break. But the only break he'd ever have wanted was one that would lead him to Selinda, his sister. And that was exactly what he'd gotten. And now all the boys were gone, left or taken away. The HIVE was basically done. Jinx's destruction of herself and her old life, unintentionally or not, was complete.

"Oh, Mam," she said, crushing the paper to her face. Maybe giving others her luck just made hers worse after all.

Raven's arms enveloped her. She didn't know when Raven had woken up or when she'd come out. Jinx silently let her girlfriend guide her back to bed, Jinx leaning on her like a dependable bedrock. Which Aspect of her girlfriend was the most dependable, she wondered? Where did this resiliency come from?

It struck Jinx, not for the first time, how weird it was to think of her girlfriend as if she were a goddess, capable of many forms and powers depending on how you interpreted her, as if she could change depending the season or the weather or the just the capricious moods that literally overtook her. Like the great and terrible Kali herself, death, change, wisdom and salvation all in one package, were her houseguest. Right now, she felt like she could pray to Raven and receive that salvation, the only solid pillar in her rapidly changing life.

For the first time in years, as she clung to Raven, she cried. The tears running down her face into Raven's t-shirt shocked her, but once they were flowing, there was no stopping them. Jinx even ugly-cried, snot running down her grimacing face, something she'd sworn she'd never, ever do. Through it all, Raven simply provided comfort, drying her face as she could, hugging her and letting it all flow until there was no more left in Jinx.

And then, Jinx talked.

"You know, I haven't cried in nine years. Not since the day I washed up by Land's End, with the Golden Gate bridge in sight. Do you know the chances of someone washing up alive there after a disaster at sea, in those currents? They tell me it's astronomical. There was this rescue worker. I still don't remember his name. He was the only one they had who could speak my language. He talked to me for the entire day, told me about his wife, their children. And he gave me this silver dollar on my neck."

She felt another tear or two flowing, Raven kissing them away as soon as they ran down her cheeks.

"It's a lucky coin, but it's a joke. It's got two heads. It's a cheat. Cheating has always been the only way I had any luck. He said I must have been blessed by Lakshmi, so the coin clearly belonged to me. I always thought that was an especially cruel joke but now... Nine years, Raven. I'm breaking a nine-year streak right now. And it's my own fault. I never cried in the Academy. Not from Blood. Not when Mammoth's sister first went missing. Not when I thought we'd be expelled for failing to keep you out of the Tower, or when all the students just left because they almost all hated each other. Not the first time another homeless and desperate person tried to stab me because I had some extra food in my bag that night. Not once. Finding you instead of a demon was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me, and now I have nothing left of who I thought I was."

"You came from almost nothing," said Raven quietly, "and you thrived. You'll find a way."

“I have you.” Jinx kissed Raven then, leaning her entire body into it. She felt the wetness on Raven's shirt and frowned. "Turn around, Rae."

Raven did.

"Lift your arms."

Raven did this too.

Jinx took off Raven's soaked shirt and threw it aside, the silver lotus on her girlfriend's choker flashing in the dimly lit room, then made good on her promise to herself and started massaging Raven's shoulders.

At first Raven was surprised, and a little stiff, but soon she was leaning into it, sighing happily.

"Lie down," said Jinx after a while, and Raven complied, lying face down. Jinx let her hands work themselves up and down Raven's back and sides, gently placing pressure on the muscles on either side of the sorceress' spine as she moved her thumbs up and down along it.

Raven, unprompted, flared a bit of her power and unhooked her bra. "Better access," she said, inviting Jinx to do more. And so she did. Raven groaned under Jinx's hands. "Lower," she said, sighing in satisfaction. Jinx might not be an empath, but she still had magic hands.

"Much lower than this and this stops being a massage, Sunshine," she teased.

"...I know what I said. Lower."

Jinx complied and Raven moaned again. Not for the first time, Jinx was glad that most of the HIVE was soundproofed. She hadn't been kidding, though; this was way beyond safe territory for her hands to be wandering.

But what was life without a little risk?

Jinx moved herself up to sit higher on Raven, then lowered herself across her to kiss her shoulders while she worked her magic down her sides. Raven's gasp was incredibly gratifying. Her purplette girlfriend had absolutely earned every bit of this, and Jinx intended to pay back with interest.

Raven turned herself around suddenly underneath Jinx, meeting her mouth with her own. Jinx didn't have to look down to feel just how bare Raven was underneath her. She then guided Jinx's hands to where she wanted them, and Jinx's breath left her. Raven really wasn't after a massage anymore. This was becoming good old fashioned heavy petting.

When it came to this, Jinx was still surrendering the lead to Raven. She mostly knew why, of course, guiltily thinking of the binding still around Raven's neck. She wasn't going to impose herself while that remained on. But Raven seemed to take to the situation naturally.

Raven sensed Jinx's distraction and wrapped her legs around Jinx, practically growling. Jinx got the message and complied, letting Raven guide her anywhere she wanted Jinx to be, throwing herself into their building passion, their mouths wandering away from each other, then onto each other in new and exciting places. This was further than they'd ever gone, way further.

Jinx sat up, dragging Raven up with her, panting. She looked deep in her eyes as Raven deftly, slowly, removed Jinx's upper layer of clothes. Jinx felt self-conscious then and hugged Raven close, as if to stop her from looking at her still puffy face, reddened eyes and embarrassing body.

"I like looking at you," said Raven, almost as if she'd read Jinx's thoughts.

"I'm just... I'm not as filled out as you. I'm wiry. Skinny. Built like a boy."

Raven kissed her neck. "You're like a boy but much cuter."

Jinx didn't even know why this extremely weird thing Raven had just said made her feel hot. Maybe it was just that Raven was saying it. "I'm a girl, though," she said, smiling.

"I know," said Raven, making it clear with her hands just how much she knew. "I can remind you more, if you want," she promised.

Jinx did, and as Raven did so, as they both explored and fumbled and found their way through this new side to themselves and each other, Jinx felt her old shames washing away. She'd been afraid of maybe ruining the moment, some unwanted memory killing their mood, but she didn't need to fear it. This was everything her past life had not been. If any such memories lingered, Raven's hands and tongue and fingers simply swept them away. The lights flickered, and Jinx wondered if the city was about to have a lot of pleasant dreams.

Raven insisted on leaving Jinx's choker on too.

  
  
  
  


They kept careful watch the following morning. Up top, the city had practically entered martial law. Uniformed soldiers - which they quickly found out were robotic, designed according to specs Cyborg claimed were Blood's - patrolled the streets. The police had been dispersed for the duration of what was supposedly an ongoing crisis. Citizens were instructed to stay indoors and businesses were closed. The few citizens and criminals who dared venture outside were disappeared to some undisclosed location.

All in all, if this was anything like Eiling's idea of a free and safe America outside metahuman influence, Jinx couldn't wait to break it. Mammoth couldn't have left at a better time.

According to Robin, the Justice League had no clear idea of where Superman and Flash had gone. Whatever had been happening in Alaska was over, as if it had never been real at all, except for the undeniable fact of two disappeared League members.

It didn't take long for the first signs of a breach to appear. The HIVE facilities below echoed with intruders stepping on traps, fighting the occupying force of Slade-bots, or running afoul of turrets. Cyborg sent a few scout drones downstairs and confirmed that Cadmus was trying to clear the place out, suffering heavy damage and losses. But it was only a matter of time.

Jinx emptied out the trophy room to prevent their use by Cadmus. She wore Chang's goggles, charging them and testing them. They had quite a useful array of functions, including x-ray and ultraviolet vision, as well as surface analysis of any piece of tech she looked at. Mumbo's hat she simply wore, still liking how it looked on her. Mad Mod's cane, however, served the least use of all. While they waited the siege out a bit longer and for a lack of anything else to do, Cyborg took a look at it.

"Aside from the power source being this weird ruby right here," he said, holding up a sliver of a gemstone in a pair of tweezers jutting out from a hole in his finger, "this really is just a fancy remote. Honestly, you could rig this thing to interact with basically anything. I wonder if the gem is how he drains people like he does?"

"That control thing does sound kind of neat, actually. Could it control the robots?" asked Jinx.

"Maybe, if their original controller were cut off. I could pretty easily modify this to find and take over anything you pointed it at. A bit like Control Freak minus whatever it is he does to make inanimate objects move."

Jinx thought about it. "I mean, we could use any advantage we can get. Might as well, right?"

"What we should be doing is figuring out where Blood is and a plan for not being detected," said Robin. "We can't all just fit inside Raven's cloak forever."

"Only if I get to watch," quipped Jinx.

Robin just looked at her. "Really, Jinx? This? Now?"

"...There is never a time when she's not on her bullshit," said Raven from where she floated in meditation. “Speaking of which, must you wear that hat, Jinx?”

“I look good in it and you know it.”

“...I’ve never met a magician in a top hat I’ve liked.”

“Glad to be your first, baby.”

Raven stammered a bit and blushed under her hood, much to Jinx’s delight. There were entirely new layers of innuendo to explore now.

"I'll just do the mod, okay?" said Cyborg, already beginning his modifications.

"I didn't think Mad Mod was your type," said Jinx, completely unable and unwilling to stop herself.

Cyborg and Robin just looked at her, unamused. She chuckled.

"It's not like it's gonna take long," Cyborg said after a long moment. "It'll go with my brand new Virus Bomb two-point-oh!"

"What is a virus bomb anyway?" asked Jinx. "I remember Raven saying something about it way back." Way back, as if it hadn't been just about two weeks. Sigh.

"A combination electromagnetic pulse and invasive software scrambler. It sends out an electronic-disrupting pulse, then hacks whatever survives with a virus! Worked like a charm on Rancid's equipment, but Overload didn't even blink. If I can finish it, it should be strong enough to hit Blood's cybernetics."

"Wouldn't that mean they'd hit yours?" asked Robin.

"Hey, sometimes you gotta risk it. Right Jinx?"

"Every time, Cy." They bumped fists.

Cyborg continued. "Only problem is, it might not be ready by the time we gotta leave. Gizmo's equipment just isn't ideal and his compilers are a mess, I guess he must have fiddled with them. It could take hours and hours to get the virus package ready. The grenade itself is right there, though, ready to go." He pointed to a tiny little blue cylinder with wires sticking out of it. For some reason, Starfire had decided it represented Cyborg and had posed the little bunny Raven as if the plushie were hugging it sullenly.

Beast Boy entered the room, changing forms from a green velociraptor. "They're getting closer! Me and Starfire put down some of the extra fake walls you made and some more traps but we don't know how long that's gonna work!"

"Looks like my bomb won't be ready in time after all," Cyborg sighed. "Okay, so how do we get out of here?"

Robin nodded at Jinx, and she started explaining. "We do have an escape tunnel. The problem is, it's not really designed to be one. It's just an exit into a storm drain."

Beast Boy groaned. "Great. Sewers. I have a sensitive nose, you know."

Jinx rolled her eyes. "The bigger problem is that normally you wouldn't expect Jump City to be occupied by a robot army. There's no real safe exit from the storm drains. And it doesn't get us any closer to a plan to beat Blood."

"I think I have an idea for that," said Robin. "He's after you. We just need to lure him out. He can't resist showing himself."

"I'm not sure he's after me, actually," said Jinx. "I think he's after Billy and Cyborg. I've had some time to think about this. He knew how to get to me and probably wanted to draw me out, but he expects me to have Billy and Cyborg with. And whatever his plan is, it requires either one or both of them. Good thing Billy skipped town days ago." She hoped that wherever he was, he was far away and safe.

"That still means you could draw him out, though," said Robin.

Jinx frowned at him. "You just really wanna throw me to the lions, huh?"

"Payback for the elevator stunt," he said, clearly joking. He reached for his belt and removed a grapple gun. "I have a few spares of these," he said. "One of these might come in handy for you. You’ve already demonstrated that you can use it." He reversed the grip, offering it to Jinx, who took it.

"Cool. I didn't even have to beat you up for a trophy."

"Like you could," he said, giving her his best cocky grin.

"...I'll take that bet," said Raven. "We'll see who wins after this is over."

"Traitor," said Robin fondly.

"Of course," Jinx cut in, giving her girlfriend an equally fond look, "that leaves another problem. How do we deal with Blood's mind control? Not even Cyborg has ever found a technical solution to that."

"That's the other thing I wanted to look at Mod's cane for," Cyborg said. "I have an idea, and I’m pretty sure Mod kept some old schematics in this thing."

Roughly two hours later, the first Blood-bot breached the HIVE hideout itself. They found the rooms, they found debris of busted controllers, they found lots of dirty ice cream bowls and plushies and an incomplete project on Gizmo's desk being hugged by a plush bunny, but they didn't find Jinx or the Titans.


	19. Blood

"Still not liking this lion's den thing, Robin!" Jinx strutted down an empty street. It felt strange to not even see cars, and residents were too scared to even peek at her through windows.

"It's still the best bet we have for finding Blood, unless you came up with a better one in the past five minutes." Robin's voice was no more reassuring coming from a Titan communicator than in person.

"...And I'm still here to back you up," came Raven's voice. "Relax."

"Yeah, see, Raven I trust. The rest of this, not so much." She adjusted the sight on Chang's goggles. "Whoops, here comes the welcoming committee. Get ready." She held Mod's cane in one hand and adjusted Mumbo's hat with the other, with the communicator in her pocket still sending audio to the others.

The Blood-bots came to her in pairs, simple patrols diverted to her location. Then something blocked out the sun briefly. Jinx looked up and saw a stealth helicopter coming in for a landing at the intersection in front of her. So far, not a single bot had so much as aimed a laser rifle at her, but that didn't make her less apprehensive. She stood still as the helicopter opened.

"Ah, Jinx, my little flower girl. It's good to finally be reacquainted with one of my actually decent students."

Sebastian Blood's voice was exactly as smooth and awful as Jinx remembered. She frowned. He was the only one to figure out what her hair really represented to her - a lotus in bloom - and constantly reminded her, as if to tell her he knew all her secrets. Just another one of his domination tactics.

She was proud of herself for only feeling revulsion. She was ready.

"Why don't you step out here and show me your face, Blood?"

"Why not indeed," he said, and did so.

Jinx was taken aback. Gone was the body of an old man, parts of it replaced with gleaming red circuitry. She'd been given warning of this, of course, but seeing the old headmaster in part-robotic form was disturbing nonetheless.

"Wow. Was this supposed to be your way of reinventing yourself? Because you look like a cheap copy of Cyborg."

She was happy to see him bristling visibly at the jibe, even if only for a moment.

"Always the clever mouth on you. You've come alone, I see. No trust between you and your new friends? Has even the brute Baran decided to abandon you?"

"I know you were expecting Cyborg or Billy. Sorry, but I don't like to give you what you want."

Blood chuckled, circling her. They were now surrounded by a full perimeter of Blood-bots. "Billy, you say? My, my, you imagined him safe because he left your base days ago, didn't you?"

Jinx glared. "What, and you expect me to believe you found him that quickly?"

He smiled his sinister smile. "No, I certainly did not. My new friends did." He held out his hands. To one side, Flash appeared, a red tint to his eyes. To his other, Superman came flying. The two subverted superheroes stared intently at Jinx, unnerving her slightly.

He chuckled softly. "It's quite simple to search a country when you have a man who can hear the grass grow on another continent directing the movements of the fastest man alive, you see. I had to go to some trouble, but find Billy they did."

"Yeah?" said Jinx. "And where is he?"

"Why, with me, of course. He and I have gotten acquainted over in the Tower. General Eiling has chosen it to be his temporary headquarters for Codename Medusa, not that I gave him a choice in the matter."

Jinx adjusted her goggles again, looking left and right. "And now you're going to explain what that is, right? That's basically what I came to hear. Don't go disappointing me, you old fart."

"Never would I disappoint the student who never disappointed me, Jinx. But first, I have to thank you. None of this would be possible without you."

"Me?" she said, surprised.

"Quite so. Your little summoning stunt called to the remnants of Trigon's power, enough so to awaken me from my induced mechanical slumber. My remains at that time had been stolen by Project Cadmus for study, so I even had a ready source of servants. All I needed was an excuse to unleash Cadmus on Jump City without alerting the authorities to my plan, and your mayor readily provided me with one in the wake of your claim on the city. I went to all that trouble to try turning the media against you and the Titans, though the good citizens of Jump City proved annoyingly loyal to little Raven, but then you upped the ante for me. I couldn’t be more proud of how far you’ve come."

Jinx suddenly felt very cold.

"Of course, I'm sure you've dealt with your unfair share of trouble since then. You could not summon Trigon, but you still incurred the karmic debt for even trying, and your relationship to karmic cycles is all but unique. If I had only been given the chance to teach you half of what I know... but alas. School's closed these days. So a small lesson shall have to suffice. Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect, my dear?”

“I’ve read chaos theory, yes.” She’d taken a keen interest, in fact, in the notion of near random chance causing great calamity. It had suited her. Too well, maybe.

“When you were still our pupil at the HIVE, we knew you had the potential to be nothing less than a nexus of chaos. A butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil causing tornadoes in the States, but writ large… and intelligently directed. We restricted your training to those wonderful hexes of yours until we could understand more properly what a large release of your powers would entail, and now we know, in part. All those troubles, all those villains suddenly taking an interest in you, that curious way you chose to deal with them, all can be traced back to your botched magic causing a storm of change in your life, including my resurrection. I'm sure it can't have been easy."

Jinx tried to resist rising to the bait. The common link between all the villains hadn’t been Raven disappearing from the Titans: it had been her all along. Her, and her terrible, no good luck. "Thanks for being a terrible teacher, old man."

Sebastian frowned, feeling the sting to his pride. Despite everything, he still somehow had taken his role seriously, horrible though this seemed. "When I took over the school, Cadmus was not unfamiliar to me. They were the original founders and funders of the HIVE academy before they were even named Cadmus, after all, although it grew beyond their ability to truly control. I gained their resources on my awakening and retraced my own plans, and realized the weakness inherent in my body and power. You see, all someone needs to defeat me is to defeat one of me. Thus, I initiated Medusa."

"What, to make more of you?" she said, more to say anything at all than be serious.

"Precisely. You see, I am unique among sorcerers, Jinx. I am, in effect, immortal. I can pass my will and memories from one vessel to another and have done so for centuries. Sebastian is far from being my first name, Jinx, and the Cult of Blood is older than even Gotham. And though this body serves me well, it is time to move on."

Jinx quirked an eyebrow. "You can't be serious. You're actually saying you're going to take over Billy's body?"

"That is indeed exactly what I plan. Imagine it; a body that can replicate itself! Defeat one of me, and another steps forth. I can go across the planet, no longer forced to rely on unreliable agents or unruly students. But the problem I faced was dire, because even if I were to occupy his body, none of my clones would retain Trigon's gifts. Hence, the Azarathi ritual."

"How does that even help you?" said Jinx. The Blood-bots were an army now, forming rows upon rows on every street in every direction.

"Trigon's power is as good as infinite. What happens, Jinx, when you split infinity? You simply get more of it. By splitting my soul and with it the gift of Trigon, I could pass on my gift to as many copies of me as I desired while also mitigating Billy’s weakness in how many clones he can sustain."

How very Voldemort of him, she thought. "And the final part of the plan is to cyber up Billy so you can move in and, what, call yourself Billy Blood?"

"Why, darlin', that's exactly what I plan to do," said Billy's voice.

Jinx turned around. There in the helicopter sat none other than Billy, but it wasn't the Billy she knew, his expression far more like Sebastian's own. He’d gotten a haircut, styling his hair closer to that of Sebastian. He wore suit and tie, of all things, the last clothes she’d ever expect to see Billy wearing, and his blue eyes were calculating and cold. She felt goosebumps rising on her arms.

"Ya'll been talking to nothing but a robotic clone, Jinxy. I already did this little transfer today, just need to tie some knots and tighten some bolts to make it proper permanent and remove what’s left of Billy from the premises. And y'know what the best news is?"

Billy Blood multiplied himself until he surrounded her completely, leaning against Blood-bots, against walls, holding up other clones of himself. The original one stepped closer to Jinx, still talking for them all.

"The ritual worked like a charm too. You're lookin' at Billy Blood at nearly full power. Every single one o' me can command the weak-minded to obey as easy as pie. Just need a few circuits installed and... well, you know the rest, right? That's Medusa, like the snakes that make up the gorgon's hair. Always more o' us and all o' us dangerous. From here, I suppose the sky's the limit. I think I'll start with a safe an’ secure America, for a laugh. Might as well give Eiling his money's worth."

“So why draw me out at all, then, if you had Billy all along?”

“Why, Jinx. Do y’all think so little of yourself? Sure, I thought you’d have the Teen Titans along with you, Cyborg especially, and taking them out is satisfying on its own… but mostly I wanted to get reacquainted with you. You always were somethin’ special. You and your curious magic have so much potential to me. Just imagine what we could accomplish if we could control your little butterfly wings.”

Jinx grinned ever so slightly, suppressing her revulsion at what she saw in Billy Blood’s eyes. "Well, thanks for the demonstration. That's just about all I needed to know to beat you."

The Billies laughed. "Really now? And how do you plan to do that when I can simply dominate you like I always have?"

The prime Billy's eyes turned red, but there was no reaction from Jinx.

Billy looked at the other Billies. Several of them tried at once, then half, then all of them.

Jinx mimed a yawn. "What's the matter, Blood? Your old age showing? Need me to get you something?" She took off Mumbo's hat, and the Billies backed away.

Around her head shone a tiny white halo. "Just a little present from jolly old Britain. Believe me, it's the first time I've appreciated that country. Mad Mod somehow discovered how to use this to utterly subdue Raven's powers... or should I say, Trigon's powers? Good thing he kept his schematics in his cane. Just a few modifications by Cyborg from his Void Room, and, well. You’ve seen how it’s working, right?"

"Then I guess our lil' relationship must come to a more gruesome end," Blood said, raising an arm. The Blood-bots all around raised their weapons.

"So much for being special to you, huh? But that's your problem number two. You don't have your cybernetics yet, and you didn't bring this silly robot clone just to be dramatic." Jinx flashed a hex at the stationary Sebastian Blood-bot, shattering it. The robotic army shivered. "Doctor Chang is a mad genius, emphasis on genius. These goggles of his can analyze and triangulate radio signals pretty easily, and that thing was the only thing in the vicinity giving them commands since you don’t have your implants yet.”

"My bots will still obey verbal commands," said Blood.

"Not if they're under my command," said Jinx, thumbing a button on the cane and twirling around, pointing it at the robot army. As one, they fell under the cane's control, regaining their former posture.

Billy Blood backed away, suddenly all out of witty replies.

Jinx grinned, placing Mumbo's hat back on her head, lifted the goggles from her eyes, and gestured grandiosely with the cane. "Now, my robotic minions! Attack! Capture Billy Blood!"

She'd always wanted to say something like that, and was not disappointed. Chaos erupted in the street, robots firing and injuring Billies who were reabsorbed and replaced, with Billies trying to fight back by stealing rifles to fire into the robotic throng. Several Billies instead tried to attack Jinx, who deftly danced and twirled away, firing hexes that caused them to trip, pushed them back or made them fly into each other to be reabsorbed on impact.

A Billy tried to escape to the helicopter, but Jinx hexed the helicopter hard enough to make pieces of it sizzle, the still-moving rotor wobbling and falling off in pieces.

"This ain’t over!" shouted a Billy. "Superman! Flash! Subdue Jinx!"

As soon as he'd said it, Raven emerged from the storm drains below, materializing from a pool of shadow, depositing Cyborg and Robin each guarded by a white halo of their own. Robin and Cyborg immediately went after Flash, distracting him.

Superman came flying at Raven, but Raven released the form of her soul, a huge black Raven, which passed through him. He paused in the air, shivering, confused, long enough for Raven to engulf him in her cloak as he twisted and punched at nothing. He simply disappeared.

"...I wasn't sure that would actually work," Raven said. “I might not be able to contain him for long. He is powerful and clever enough to work out an escape eventually.”

Jinx felt an indescribable thrill watching her girl nonchalantly defeat Superman. "Where did you put him?"

"...Just a secluded spot. He's resilient. His mind will be fine. I think."

Cyborg and Robin tried to fend off Flash, but nothing they did was working. Jinx suddenly felt the taste of a perfect moment and let loose a hex bolt which impacted on the ground right as Flash's feet passed over it, knocking him over. Robin threw a bat-grenade where he lay, engulfing him in some kind of gas, and Flash passed out. Cyborg and Robin turned their attention to the many Billies around them.

Billy, in the meantime, had rescued some kind of control panel from the helicopter, pressing buttons wildly. "You think that's all Cadmus has in store for y'all?"

Flying rapidly from the Tower came aircraft and missiles, but before they even reached the mainland, several missiles were intercepted by green bolts. Starfire, protected by a halo, circled above the carnage in the street and fired a stream of bolts wherever she could strike a target in between sniping projectiles out of the air. A white-haloed Beast Boy flew at one plane as an eagle, entered it as a fly, and burst it open from within as a T-rex. Everything seemed well in hand, or claw, as the case might be.

Jinx had a sudden idea. "Robin! Cyborg! Help me capture a Billy! Raven, when I have one, bring us into your void!"

"You need Raven for your plan? Well too bad," spat a Billy from where he lay. "Y'all couldn't put a halo on that little devil without cripplin’ her, now could ya!" His eyes turned red.

Raven's did not, her red sigils flaring briefly instead. She quirked her lips slightly and showed him her choker. "I am bound to serve Jinx, and only Jinx. You can't touch me."

For the first time, Jinx was immensely thankful that she hadn't undone the binding.

Robin and Cyborg quickly subdued and fished out a Billy from the scrum. Jinx grabbed the Billy by the collar and ran straight at Raven, who opened her cloak-

**-The void was timeless, after all, or infinite time, dangerous to a mind unprotected, an infinity passing in an instant for those unprepared for it-**

-and Jinx left it again. She handed the Billy, wide-eyed and terrified from his stint in Nevermore’s void, to Cyborg. "Toss this trash back at the rest of them, would you?"

"BOOYAH!" yelled Cyborg, throwing the Billy at a throng of Billies. They reabsorbed him, and as one the billies grasped their heads in agony. The Billy had been gone for only a moment, but the experience of timeless infinity had certainly made it feel like they'd been apart for a long time. They reformed into one body, and a horrible blood-red shape made up of innumerable shards, like a tortured ghost that had been shredded to pieces, screeched and howled as it left him, flying quickly back towards the Tower.

Jinx stopped the robots with the cane and ran to Billy. He was alive, but not in great shape.

"Boss?" he said weakly. "Izzat you?"

"Don't talk, Billy. You'll be fine."

Raven moved her cloak, and from it emerged Superman, kneeling on the ground. Superman knelt for a long moment, then opened his eyes, free of Blood's influence. He got up, standing tall and proud, and brushed himself off. "Thank you all for freeing us. No offense, Raven, but I'd rather not experience whatever that was again any time soon."

"...Told you he'd be fine," Raven said before addressing Superman. "We still need to take out Blood, but you don't have any protection against his influence. Can you take Billy Numerous and Flash to a hospital? We'll deal with the rest."

Superman nodded. "Will do. Honestly, I think it's time the League placed a little more trust in the Teen Titans."

Beast Boy and Starfire landed nearby. Jinx grinned at Superman. "Well, our transport is here. Good luck! Say hi to Diana for me, Supes!"

"Of course... er... you." Superman seemed slightly confused.

"The name's Jinx," she said. "And I think you won't forget it again any time soon!"

  
  
  
  


 

The approach to the Tower was in theory much simpler in the wake of the assault having disabled most of its aerial defenses. Starfire carried Robin by the waist, Beast Boy carried Cyborg while in the shape of a Pterodactyl, and Raven carried Jinx the same way she had in the disused subway.

Their flight was disrupted by laser fire. Apparently, the Tower had new defenses. Cyborg fired his sonic cannon into the tower to disrupt them, but the tower vomited forth an avalanche of flying drones. They fought their way through them in droves, but one took aim at a briefly vulnerable Robin. Starfire twisted herself in the air, shielding his body with hers, and was struck. She gasped in pain, lost consciousness, and started falling.

"No!" said Raven. As they watched, however, Robin quickly grabbed Starfire in one arm and shot his grappling hook at one side of the giant T, swinging up and around, then swinging down again. They heard Robin's voice on their communicators as he reeled them up.

"We'll be fine! Titans, Keep going! Star, stay with me. Please."

The comm line cut out, but they'd all heard the hurt and concern Robin had tried to mask. The concern was mirrored in all of them.

"He'll get her to the Tower's medical facilities as quick as he can," said Raven to Jinx. "If anyone can help her, it's Robin."

"He'd better," said Jinx. "Let's be extra careful now."

The four remaining teens came in for a landing on the roof, still open to the sky after being drilled open by a robot-filled assault pod. They went inside, looking for signs of Cadmus or Blood.

Of the former, they found plenty. Blood-bots, no longer disguised as American soldiers of any kind, were crawling all over the tower, all of them armed and dangerous. Raven sliced entire hallways of them apart as she had in the HIVE, but more kept coming, far more coordinated than Slade's leader-bereft army had been. Cyborg dispatched just as many, knowing the weak spots in their tech better than anyone and blasting them easily with his sonic cannon.

Cyborg tried to update his realtime map of the Tower, breaching the new software firewall. "If they're not in the living room, they might be in the computer rooms or Robin's analysis lab- AHH!"

"Cyborg!" yelled Beast Boy, looking at what had struck him. From behind Cyborg's comatose bulk emerged none other than Gizmo, armed to the teeth, his eyes glowing a sinister red.

Jinx quickly threw several hexes at Gizmo, who dodged and weaved, firing some lasers back, but his robotic limbs were sliced away by Raven in the distraction. Beast Boy knocked the boy genius out by headbutting him in the form of a goat and quickly came to Cyborg's help.

"I'll be fine, l-little green," said Cyborg. His blue circuits sparked and dimmed like a malfunctioning lightbulb. "Just need... a pr-r-r-r-oper reboot. Gizmo must have hit me with one of my own vi-i-i-rus bombs. I had one half-ready when we had t-t-t-to leave..." He hunched over in pain. “Maybe they’re not the b-b-best idea to keep lying around after all, huh?”

"It's okay," said Beast Boy, his voice cracking. "I'll get you and Gizmo to the med room, okay?" BB nodded to Raven and Jinx. "I think I figured out where they are. Eiling said they emptied the trophy room, right? It's the most secure part of the building. They must have set up their headquarters in there."

Jinx and Raven nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense," said Jinx. "Be careful, you don't know how many of them are guarding the medical rooms."

"It's fine. Robin will have cleared the way. Good luck!" Beast Boy morphed into the shape of a gorilla and lifted Gizmo and Cyborg under one arm, scrambling quickly away.

Jinx felt a little anxious. The situation was becoming a bit more precarious than she'd have liked. She took Raven's hand in hers and willed her power into action, thinking back to Mammoth, and a bit of pink energy passed from herself to Raven, granting her Jinx’s own luck. After watching two of the Titans go down, she wasn’t about to see the same thing happen to her girlfriend. Raven hadn’t noticed, and Jinx was glad for it.

"Ready, Sunshine?"

"...With you, always."

They quickly found the old trophy room, thinning the herd of Blood-bots along the way. Beast Boy's intuition had been right. This was absolutely the command center. On the ground and scattered about the room were men and women in various stages of confusion. Jinx spotted General Eiling among them.

"...General," said Raven, floating over them. "I take it you're free from Blood's control?"

"For now," said Eiling. "That sicko better get what's coming to him!"

"We'll try," said Raven. "Can you get your people safely to the medical facility in the Tower? Robin and Beast Boy are securing it as we speak."

"Sure can," said the General. He turned to look at Jinx for the first time. "You're Jinx, then. He had some sick, sick plans for you. When you see him, give him some extra special hell. Some of my staff will appreciate it."

Jinx narrowed her eyes. "Bet on it." She wasn't about to be friendly with Eiling in this lifetime, but kicking Blood's ass transcended a few of their boundaries.

Eiling distributed rifles among the able-bodied staff and herded them out of the room. He addressed Raven and Jinx again. "You'll find Blood down one level. Something called the 'Void Room' in the Tower plans. He was fascinated by it."

They nodded and Eiling left, rifle in hand, firing down the corridor.

Raven took Jinx’s hand and transported them down one level.

It was a strange chamber, a huge empty space with a dome in the center. Standing by it was Sebastian Blood, apparently recovered from having his shattered soul forcibly ejected from Billy back into his former body. Jinx quickly confirmed with Chang's goggles that this was the real one, in the flesh-and-robot-bits, now that she had a basis for comparison.

"And here we are again, together at last," said Blood. “I shall have to remember this trick. Without my cybernetics, my poor shattered self would have simply passed beyond rather than returning to this shell. My old body had a use after all.” He chuckled. "Oh, the toys you Titans have fascinate me. To think that mere technology could replicate magical bindings enough to quell demonic power! I can only imagine what I could do with such a thing."

Jinx nodded to Raven, but before they could attack him, Blood transformed one arm into a cannon and blew Raven out of the air with a sonic blast. He then turned the cannon on Jinx, clipping her. They both sent their magic flying at him, but he countered it with a smile.

Jinx wasn't worried about Raven, but Blood had an advantage here. He was countering all of their combined magic with his own, and still had the cannon to blast at them. They needed to bridge the gap.

Jinx took off Mumbo's hat and started rummaging around in it.

"Come now, Jinx!" said Sebastian. "What is that going to accomplish? Will a rabbit from a magic hat save you now?"

"Probably," said Jinx, pulling the bunny plushie of Raven from the hat. And still in the bunny's sullen grip was the now-ready Virus Bomb 2.0 from Gizmo’s workshop. She dropped the bunny, pressed the bomb's trigger and threw it at Blood, drawing on the ritual she’d used to draw her perfect summoning circle to instead describe a perfect parabolic arc in the air. "Booyah," she whispered.

The bomb impacted on Blood's arm, disrupting him, disabling the sonic cannon. But it didn't drop him completely. His red circuitry flickered slightly, then resolidified. "I'm afraid I've made some upgrades to my systems since the last time Cyborg tried to disrupt them," he said. He tried his arm, but it refused to form the cannon again, the mechanism wobbling strangely. "Though you were not completely without success, it seems."

Raven and Jinx separated slightly, approaching Blood from different angles. He laughed. "But I suppose we must end this farce, one way or another." He rushed at Raven, his cybernetically enhanced speed and strength forcing Raven to evade him. Even as she dodged, his other hand reached towards Jinx, releasing red bolts of magical power.

Jinx couldn't dodge in time. The bolts struck her squarely in the abdomen. They travelled up and down her body, shorting out the goggles and the cane, leaving them useless and broken as they fell from her. Another bolt came for her throat and impacted hard. She yelled out in pain and fell. She knew without looking that she was bleeding.

"Jinx! NO!" Raven was distracted for a just a second, and Blood used the chance to punch at her again, throwing her inside the Void Room with the sheer force of the blow. He turned the room on, and Raven fell to the floor hard, her powers disrupted.

Jinx’s eyes focused on the tiny bits of silver raining across the floor. She dimly realized she was looking at the remains of the silver dollar that had been around her neck. The bolt had shattered it, absorbing enough power to leave her alive. There was blood, but her throat was intact.

"Time for a final lesson, flower girl." Blood picked Jinx up by the collar and dragged her inside the room, closing it behind them, making Jinx gasp with pain as her injured neck was constricted. "Time to show you what I do to those you drag into your own fights. In here, our magical power is useless. And without our powers, I have the advantage with my cybernetic body." Blood tossed Jinx aside, making her pain flare up terribly, and she gritted her teeth.

The inside of the dome was strange, everything in every direction seeming like a pure white expanse stretching into infinity as soon as the door had closed behind them. The only color in the expanse was the trail of blood from Jinx. She watched as Raven stood up, facing Blood in a fighting stance - an unusual thing to see on Raven. "We're not done yet, Blood," she said, daring him to come closer.

"Oh I think you'll find we are," he said, raising his hand to punch at her again.

Raven simply moved. Jinx recognized the taste of a perfect moment in her timing. She was incredibly quick, closing the distance between her and Blood faster than he could punch at her. She deftly pushed the incoming arm aside with a quick move, deflecting the force of the fist harmlessly, then raised two fingers on one hand and punched them into the arm somehow, leaving a large hole where her fingers had been.

Blood yelled in wordless frustration, pushing Raven away, but his arm strength had weakened, Raven’s blow having precisely cut into the artificial muscle through a weak point in the armor. "How? How are you doing that? You have no powers here!"

"I am still a demon lord's offspring," answered Raven confidently. "Demons are strong, fast, tough and clever by nature. Did you really think I would be helpless? I train in combat drills with a world-class martial artist almost every week. Did you think that just because I know magic that I didn't understand Cyborg's schematics? He's showed them to me many times, including how to take them apart. You haven't beaten me by putting us in here, Blood. You've lost."

Jinx thought she could recognize a little bit of Brave in Raven’s demeanour and smiled through her pain. “Kick his ass, sweetheart,” she whispered, just loud enough for Raven to hear.

Blood yelled, trying to punch Raven. She dodged under his punches, backed away, and then struck a precise blow against Blood's other arm, leaving it dangling uselessly. She struck again, leaving him limping. Jinx watched, spellbound, somehow knowing each time her own luck helped Raven avoid an incoming blow or find her target.

Blood yelled again, landing a powerful kick in Raven's midsection that sent her reeling backwards, and limped over to Jinx. She couldn't resist as he picked her up by the neck with his weak but still functional arm. "Let's see how well you can fight before I crush this pretty little flower's stem!"

Jinx shot a hex bolt directly at Blood's torso. He gasped, and stared at the giant hole in his body and then at Jinx, letting her fall from his grip. He took a step back, stammering. "Wha... What..."

"Come on, Sebastian," Jinx said, gritting her teeth as she fell down again. "Just because the room stops demonic powers doesn't mean it stops all magic." The little halo on her head hadn’t stopped them before, after all, and Raven still had her aura. She hadn't known the Void Room wouldn’t stop her from using her power, of course, but why stop trusting in her luck now?

Sebastian's body flickered, and the red glow finally died. He fell over, his tattered torso severing from his legs. He was disabled once again.

It was over. Jinx grinned through the pain, even as she felt Raven kissing her head and picking her up.

“Jinx. Stay with me. We need to get out of this room, but I have no way of opening it and I can’t heal you while we’re in here. Please stay with me, Lucky.”

Jinx fought the darkness threatening to engulf her and looked at the trailing blood she’d left behind. She took aim at the point where it stopped and fired, exactly hitting the door, unlocking it and deactivating the chamber. “Hey, lucky us,” she said weakly. “I left a trail of crumbs for us. Who knows if we’d have gotten out without it?”

Raven just smiled. Jinx was shocked to see tears in her eyes. She passed out, not hearing Raven's next words.

  
  
  
  


 

Jinx awoke with Raven sleeping next to her. She looked around. She seemed to be in a hospital bed, presumably in the Tower. Starfire was in the next bed over, Robin holding her hand in her sleep. He noticed Jinx.

"Nice job taking out Blood," he said.

"Cool. I didn't dream that." Jinx relaxed her head again. Her voice sounded fine, but her neck was heavily bandaged. Her stomach felt no better. "So what's going on now?"

"The League is helping us clean up the place along with the crew from Titans East. Diana and Bee say hi."

Jinx grinned.

"Eiling is giving his report as we speak and will talk with the press. Don't expect him to acknowledge us as heroes or anything. Cadmus isn't even returning what they stole from the trophy room, so they must figure they got something out of this mess. But he's going with the story we gave him."

"What's that?" asked Jinx.

"We were working with you to take down a wave of criminals, culminating in Brother Blood, who subverted the operation of Project Cadmus and therefore the American government to try to smear us and take us down. Unofficially, the story is going to be that you were actively taking out Cadmus as a form of revenge. Your cooperation will be noted by the authorities. The district attorney's office is already offering a heavily reduced sentence and parole for your past crimes thanks to your efforts in defending the city."

"They better," she said. "Was Blood controlling the mayor too?"

"No. And I'm not going to forget that." 

Jinx felt a little chill at Robin’s expression. She’d always thought of him as sucking up to authorities, but her impression had clearly been wrong. If the authorities threatened his group, he’d treat them as a threat too, albeit of a different kind. It was a stark reminder that he was a vigilante, even if he was a tacitly accepted one. An outsider with a band of outsiders.

Starfire stirred a little in her sleep, and Robin smiled down at her. It was actually a tender smile, not something Jinx had ever seen on Robin's face before, but it was gone as soon as it came. She thought she understood Starfire’s taste in partners a little better now, not that she saw the attraction herself.

Jinx recalled the events of the day. "Where's Gizmo and Billy?"

"Also getting their own plea bargains. Apparently Gizmo was offered a job."

Jinx frowned. "Wait. What?"

"Some white hat hacker organization wants him on board. He's even been offered amnesty in Russia and Iceland. From what I could tell, he was actually pretty cool with the idea. We didn't even realize that he dumped a bunch of sensitive and compromising files online for anyone to browse to cover his tracks from Medusa. He's getting a lot of respect in the hacker community for it and a lot of diplomats are having to field very uncomfortable questions."

Jinx chuckled, feeling less pain in her abdomen than she thought she might. Finally he found respect, and it was for ethical crime. Figures. "And Billy?"

"He... says hi. And that he's looking forward to seeing you on TV."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The Titans are on the news a lot," Robin said. "And..."

They looked at each other for a long moment.

"Let's just say that we'll have that conversation once you're feeling a little better. Better to have all the Titans ready for it, too."

Jinx nodded, suddenly anxious about her future.

"...She's taking the invitation or I'm kicking her butt," said Raven.

Jinx laughed as much as her wounds allowed. "Are you always going to pretend to be sleeping like this?"

"Only if you keep considering really silly ideas, like not staying here with me after all this." She growled possessively at her - a deep and terrible growl, like from their first night together.

"Fair enough, Sunshine." Jinx ran her fingers fondly through Raven’s hair, and the low demonic rumble filling the room quieted.

Robin just grinned.

"So," Jinx said, thinking. "What's happened to Blood?"

"The League has what’s left him in their custody," said Robin. “A body-hopping immortal who can easily control Superman was too much of a potential threat to leave unguarded again. Batman is enacting some plans for the cult in Gotham now that their leader is down.”

Jinx nodded. "Good." If there was anyone who deserved the League’s punishment, it was Blood.

  
  
  
  
  


That night, in Raven's room, Jinx looked down at the sleeping sorceress beside her and made her next decision.

She touched Raven's choker, and began invoking their bond.

"I release you from your bond to obey me. I release you from your bond to not seek your escape. I release you from your bond to do me no harm and see to my safety. I release you from your summoning."

One by one, the hidden clasps on the choker came undone, until finally it popped off entirely. Jinx gathered it up and folded it, placing it next to Raven on her pillow, and got up.

She was still stiff despite Raven doing her best with her wounds, and the tower was also still a bit of a mess even after Flash had graciously cleaned it of robot bits and debris for them as thanks, so it took her a while to ascend the stairs to the roof. She went to the edge and sat down, staring at the sky above. Out here in the bay, with her back to the city, she could even see the stars.

She heard the door open behind her, heard the footsteps approaching, and felt Raven sitting down next to her, placing an arm across her shoulder. Jinx looked over at her. Raven had put the choker on again.

"You don't have to wear that, you know. Pretty sure it doesn’t even have a spell on anymore."

"...I choose to," she said. "I think it looks cool on me, actually. I liked matching yours."

Jinx smiled. "I... need to apologize, Raven."

Raven snuggled closer, saying nothing. Jinx placed her arm around Raven’s waist, noting the slight hitch in Raven’s breath. Her half-demon girlfriend was still bruised from the fight with Blood but was too proud to admit it, which just made Jinx feel more fond of her.

"I could have removed the binding earlier. I thought maybe I was waiting for the right moment, and maybe it worked out in our favor thanks to Blood, but... the truth is, I didn't remove it because I was still a little afraid you'd hate me and leave me. Until last night. I should have trusted your feelings more, Rae. I should have placed much more faith in you than that. I'm sorry."

Jinx thought she could see a tiny red glare in Raven’s eyes, but she was smiling. "...I forgive you. Mostly because I have a confession too.”

“What’s that, Sunshine?”

“...I didn’t want you to remove it. I was a little scared that you’d just get tired of me. Or things would be awkward, and you’d drop me and move on. Or that you’d just leave like the boys did, or wouldn’t want to be with the Titans with me. Until last night.”

Jinx smiled. “I forgive you too. Even though there’s nothing to forgive. I’m a mess, sweetheart, and I’m afraid you’re going to have to deal with me a lot.”

“Let’s be a mess together, then.”

Jinx smiled and looked at her in the starlight.

“...You'll still have to make it up to me," Raven said.

"Noted." Jinx let herself relax, snuggling closer to the girl she loved.

Loved. She loved her. She needed to make this real.

"I love you," Jinx said, for the first time. "I love you so much, Raven."

"I love you too, Kamala." Raven kissed her ever so lightly on the lips, exactly as electrifying as their first kiss had been. Jinx finally decided that she liked - no, loved - hearing her old name on Raven's lips.

They sat a while longer before Raven spoke up again.

"...So does the binding being gone mean you're going to take charge more?" She asked.

Jinx blushed and grinned. "Maybe?”

"Good. You owe me a date and at least one attempt at looking into my supposed ‘submissive tendency’.”

Jinx blushed even harder. "I don’t think we need to worry about that part. Going by what we did, I think they’d classify you as the biggest power bottom in the universe.”

"The nebulous They can go to hell," she said, kissing Jinx again under the stars.


	20. Epilogue

Jinx hated the orange jumpsuit, but it came with the territory. Prison wasn't meant to make you look nice. It wouldn't be long, anyway; a token several weeks, tops, with potential for early release for good behavior in minimum security, after all the loot from the bank had been returned.

This prison was even so lax that she was allowed some personal items. She’d chosen the little bunny Raven plushie and promised the real one she’d kiss it goodnight every night in her stead. Raven had been less than amused, somehow being jealous of a tiny representation of herself. There might come a time when they’d have to work on that possessiveness of hers, but Jinx was going to enjoy it until then. Raven was always very decisive about how exactly Jinx should apologize to her and she loved every minute of it.

She finished signing the last of the mound of papers she’d been handed. Across from her, in the visiting room, sat Raven and Robin.

"Okay, now bear with me for a second, Raven. I've got a big speech prepared and everything."

Raven just rolled her eyes.

Jinx stood up, her arms bound together. "Raven, you're the best thing that ever happened to me. I don't deserve you after what I did, and after what I've done, but you still chose to stick with me. You've shown me new sides to myself, new ways to live, and so many ways for me to love you and even be loved back. I guess what I'm saying is... Raven, will you make me the happiest girl alive?"

She knelt, looking imploringly at Raven, raising her hands towards her.

"Will you be my parole officer?"

Robin could barely conceal his laughter as Raven just looked Jinx squarely in the eye. Raven leaned in, closer, ever so closer, until her breath tickled Jinx's ear, and said-

"No."

"Aw, come on!" huffed Jinx. "I thought for sure that would get you!"

"...Too bad that there is such a thing as a conflict of interest at work here, Lucky. Significant others don't make good unbiased officers. Fortunately, I have someone in mind."

"Oh, you want someone to come between us? I hope it's only on the condition that you watch."

Raven smiled ever so slightly. "Oh, I don't think it will come to that. Robin?"

Robin looked at Jinx, his smile almost evil.

"No. No way. Him?" Jinx felt a little betrayed, so naturally she acted like this was the worst betrayal of her life. "How could you, my love! Oh, what cruel fate has laid us so low!"

"You... are such a goof." Raven smiled. "It's okay, he'll only treat you like he treats any other criminal."

Robin's smile grew darker still.

Jinx threw herself dramatically backwards. "Fine! Toss me to the sharks. See if I care. See if I don't rot in this cell forever, or at least until next Ice Cream Day is already over!"

"Starfire will insist on waiting for you to be there," said Robin. "Relax. The DA is placing a lot of trust in us for this, and we should at least make it look good." Of course, this being Robin, there was always the unspoken warning; he was going to take this extremely seriously, and Jinx better do it too.

"Yeaaaah, I know." Jinx sat back in her chair, smiling. "How is everyone doing?"

"Billy's sitting his sentence out and letting things come as they come, Gizmo's been granted amnesty and has disappeared into some kind of protective custody, and there's still no sign of Mammoth," counted Robin on his fingers.

She smiled sadly. She missed Baran. "That's not everyone I care about, Robin."

He grinned again, counting. "Starfire has completely healed and has commissioned a plushie of you, Beast Boy is still recovering from Raven handing him and Cyborg their entire butts at that new game of theirs, and Cyborg says Bee is looking forward to sparring with you again."

Jinx grinned her absolute widest cat-like grin, her slitted eyes glinting. "Excellent. Well, I signed all these papers, so we're done. Let's not keep the poor guards waiting!"

Jinx was separated from the Titans by a gentle and super buff old lady whose name was Doris and who cared about all her little prison girls a lot in between crushing it at the gym and making doilies for her cats, and was led to the exercise yard, now unshackled. The yard ran alongside the exit to the prison, separated by nothing more than a chain link fence. Most of the other girls here were first-time or non-violent offenders, although Jinx was fiercely arguing the case that Kitten being in here must have been some kind of bureaucratic mishap, especially since the blondie was still blaming Jinx for Billy spending an entire evening asking her out hundreds of times. And it was her fault, but still.

Jinx entered the yard just in time to see Raven and Robin leave by the front door, and stood right up against the fence, waving.

Raven motioned for Robin to go on ahead to the T-car and walked up to Jinx. "There's three more things I want to show you," she said.

"In front of all these other girls? I might get jealous."

Raven rolled her eyes again and lifted her cloak. In her hand was a choker. It was hers, Jinx realized; the lotus one was still around Raven's neck, but the old silver dollar had been shattered by the errant bolt from Brother Blood, probably saving her life. This new one was also silver, but held a design of a raven with four eyes taking flight. Jinx knew she was smiling as wide as she could.

"Oh my gosh I love it. I am never taking that off when I'm out of here!"

"...Gross," said Raven. "And this is the second thing that will be waiting for you when you get out."

It was a Titan communicator. Hilariously, Raven had apparently decided to engrave a unicorn frolicking under a rainbow into it in Cyborg’s machine shop.

Jinx grinned. The Titans hadn't even bothered to hold a vote to decide to accept her as their sixth official member, and now it was even more official. "Have you been looking through my diaries and notebooks again? Naughty girl." Jinx had been initially embarrassed at Raven finding out that she was absolutely that kind of princess-story loving gal, but Raven had just ran with it.

"I also engraved that grappling hook Robin gave you and painted it pink. Now you're the only one who won't be too embarrassed to use it."

Jinx laughed. "So what's the third thing?"

"This," said Raven, her power flaring. Jinx felt herself swept up by it, pushing her very close into the chain link fence, and Raven's lips met hers through one of the gaps.

Jinx closed her eyes, even as she heard the various gasps, hoots and cries of mild disgust from the other prisoners in the yard, plus at least one embarrassingly long romantic sigh. It was clearly going to be an interesting few weeks on the inside after this.

"Remember me in your dreams," Raven said, in a very familiar husky voice. Jinx was startled, but Raven had turned away towards the T-car before she could respond. Another of her girlfriend's Aspects had come out to play, it seemed. She felt like she should be burning some incense on an altar to her.

Jinx didn't look away until the blue circuitry of the car was no longer visible, and sighed her own little romantic sigh.

Oh, her dreams were going to be amazing.

 

 

 

 

**THE END**

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's how Jinx lost all her friends, lost her home, lost her freedom, lost everything she thought she believed in and got locked up in prison. Happy ending everybody!
> 
> Thank you again to everyone who has commented through the work. I hope you'll comment again on this one, because this is the chapter where I will absolutely let you go ham with your opinions and even respond to them. Constructive criticism appreciated and allowed as well.
> 
> For various reasons, I don't link this account to anything else in my life. Therefore I don't get reblogs on tumblr, retweets on twitter, shares on Facebook or pillow slaps on pillowfort.io (I have no idea how pillowfort actually works.) For that reason and others, you are absolutely allowed to share this story in part or whole as much as you like, provided that you always credit me by my username here and link to the original. You may have to take screenshots of certain bits yourselves. Those HIVE communicator and notepaper bits weren't images, they were HTML. Mobile friendly, doncha know. If there's concepts you'd do differently or I didn't cover, steal any ideas you want and go hog wild with your own fics, no need to ask permission.
> 
> So... where did this story spring up from in less than a month? The answer is, bits and pieces of it have been floating around in my head for years. The elevator scene came to me in a dream once after re-binge watching the show. The Mad Mod bit was something I'd considered also for a long time, but it never carried itself as a fic to just do some color/text illusions and most places didn't support it. The idea of Raven being summoned wasn't new in my head either, but I'd always conceived of it as being written from her point of view, not her summoner's. And one of the things I've thought about for a long time is what fanfiction can do easily that most fiction can't; generate and thrive on friction between audience knowledge and character knowledge, but I've never acted on that. I've also read other fics that have influenced me, and you can probably tell which ones if you look hard enough. That and a dozen other similar little things were already floating around in my head and various note-taking places.
> 
> So when the spark came for a Jinx self-destructive redemption story when I was browsing a favorite pairing of mine at the start of November, and I started writing bits and pieces of it, everything fell pretty naturally in place, combined with plenty of my own life tossed in. The lesson here, apparently, is to bottle all your ideas up, never show them to anybody and then have them explode out all at once. 
> 
> Don't... don't actually follow that advice. I'm as good a source of life advice as Jinx is.
> 
> The only other advice I can offer is, "be a fan of the characters." I got this from certain role-playing games. I didn't start off a fan of the HIVE crew writing this, but chose not to be held back by it, and made them into something I could enjoy without straying far away from what little we know about them and it even gave me new appreciation for characters I already liked.
> 
> I have some ideas for a sequel. Don't expect it soon. I also have ideas for shorter one-shots in the interim. Don't expect them soon either. I left quite a bit open and teasers for what a sequel would involve, but those bits stand on their own regardless as intriguing ideas people can think about for themselves. When and If either sequels or other stories happen, I will add one chapter to this story to let everyone subscribed to it know.
> 
> Thanks to all of you, thanks to everyone who's kept this ship floating and sailing along (especially folks like morbidoptimist, ivedonestranger, malkavian_logic, and quite a few others), thanks to everyone who's found this fic and shared it and enjoyed it, and let's all have a fantastic Jinxy and Raveny time going forward.
> 
> Oh, and "Raven Bound" was a pun all along. It meant Jinx's destination, too. Enjoy~


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